Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [leech]
- /litʃ/
- /liːtʃ/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [leech]
- /litʃ/
Definitions of leech word
- noun leech Margaret, 1893–1974, U.S. historian, novelist, and biographer. 1
- verb with object leech to apply leeches to, so as to bleed. 1
- verb with object leech to cling to and feed upon or drain, as a leech: His relatives leeched him until his entire fortune was exhausted. 1
- verb with object leech Archaic. to cure; heal. 1
- verb without object leech to hang on to a person in the manner of a leech: She leeched on to him for dear life. 1
- noun leech An aquatic or terrestrial annelid worm with suckers at both ends. Many species are bloodsucking parasites, especially of vertebrates, and others are predators. 1
Information block about the term
Origin of leech
First appearance:
before 900 One of the 4% oldest English words
before 900; Middle English leche, Old English lǣce; replacing (by confusion with leech2) Middle English liche, Old English lȳce; cognate with Middle Dutch lieke; akin to Old English lūcan to pull out, Middle High German liechen to pull
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Leech
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
leech popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 90% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
leech usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for leech
noun leech
- sycophant — a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite.
- sponge — any aquatic, chiefly marine animal of the phylum Porifera, having a porous structure and usually a horny, siliceous or calcareous internal skeleton or framework, occurring in large, sessile colonies.
- barnacle — Barnacles are small shellfish that fix themselves tightly to rocks and the bottoms of boats.
- bloodsucker — A bloodsucker is any creature that sucks blood from a wound that it has made in an animal or person.
- bum — Someone's bum is the part of their body which they sit on.
verb leech
- phlebotomize — to subject to phlebotomy; bleed.
- freeload — to take advantage of others for free food, entertainment, etc.
- bleed — When you bleed, you lose blood from your body as a result of injury or illness.
- bummed — depressed, upset, distressed, annoyed, etc.
- bumming — a person who avoids work and sponges on others; loafer; idler.
Top questions with leech
- what is a leech?
- what does leech mean?
- what is leech?
- how to remove a leech?
- how many brains does a leech have?
- how to get a leech off?
- what does a leech look like?
- what to do when a leech bites you?
- how to hook a leech for fishing?
- what happens if you eat a leech?
- how do you get a leech off your body?
- how does leech therapy work?
- why do leech bites itch?
- how to hook a leech?
- how to stop bleeding after leech bite?