leach
verb (used with object)
to dissolve out soluble constituents from (ashes, soil, etc.) by percolation.
leach
1 American
[leech]
/ litʃ /
verb (used with object)
-
leaches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
leached,
past participle, past
-
leaching
present participle
-
to dissolve out soluble constituents from (ashes, soil, etc.) by percolation.
-
to cause (water or other liquid) to percolate through something.
verb (used without object)
-
leaches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
leached,
past participle, past
-
leaching
present participle
-
(of ashes, soil, etc.) to undergo the action of percolating water.
-
to percolate, as water.
noun
-
the act or process of leaching.
-
a product or solution obtained by leaching; leachate.
-
the material leached.
-
a vessel for use in leaching.
leach
2
American
[leech]
/ litʃ /
noun
Nautical.
leach
1
British
/ liːtʃ /
verb
noun
-
the act or process of leaching
-
a substance that is leached or the constituents removed by leaching
-
a porous vessel for leaching
Leach
2
British
/ liːtʃ /
noun
leach
3
British
/ liːtʃ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
leachsimple
-
leachessimple
-
have leachedperfect
-
has leachedperfect
-
am leachingprogressive
-
are leachingprogressive
-
is leachingprogressive
-
have been leachingperfect progressive
-
has been leachingperfect progressive
Past
-
leachedsimple
-
had leachedperfect
-
was leachingprogressive
-
were leachingprogressive
-
had been leachingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of leach
1425–75; late Middle English leche leachate, infusion, probably Old English *læc ( e ), *lec ( e ), akin to leccan to wet, moisten, causative of leak
Explanation
When minerals or other materials are pulled out of some substance by a liquid, you can say that they leach from it. A flood can leach important nutrients out of a farmer's field. In agriculture, when farmers allow cattle to graze too much in one spot, or don't rotate their crops from field to field over the years, they risk having a heavy rain leach nutrients from the soil. Sometimes farmers will use water to deliberately leach unwanted materials, like salt, from a field. The verb leach has an Old English root word, leccan, or "to moisten, water, wet, or irrigate."
Vocabulary lists containing leach
Physical Geography - Middle School
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Africa - Introductory
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Physical Geography - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But the chemicals take a long time to break down and have lingered in the environment, particularly in landfill, where they can leach into waterways and then into the sea.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Coal mines often leach dangerous chemicals like arsenic into waterways and are required to strictly monitor pollution discharge and keep it under certain limits.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
Jefferies cuts Nickel Industries to hold from buy, and lowers its price target by 17% to A$1.00/share, citing increasing geopolitical headwinds and higher sulfur prices reducing profit margins of its high-pressure acid leach operations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
When old records make it to a landfill, they’re not only likely to outlive the site, but can also leach plasticizers, a Keele University report found.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
She held him like that, willing him to leach warmth from her, willing his body to learn from the rhythm of her heartbeat, the steadiness of her breath.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
Playa del Rey resident Rebecca Leach, 43, already has an L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
State Sen. Carol Alvarado and Rep. Jeff Leach, the bill’s author and House sponsor, said surveillance cameras were never discussed when the bill was considered.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
Golesh particularly remembers going up against Texas Tech and their coach Mike Leach, a leading practitioner of the up-tempo “Air Raid” offense.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Stephanie Leach, a sixth-year graduate student in Hwang's lab, contributed to the design of the project, led the experiments conducted with participants, and co-led preparation of the manuscript.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
I’d been hoping to get Ms. Leach for fifth grade.
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
High in phosphorus, it can become a problem when excess nutrients from animal manure leaches into rivers and groundwater.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2025
Sometimes, the chemical “sauce” leaches out of plastic, a process that, research has shown, can be toxic.
From Slate ● May 28, 2025
Without the constant pressure of gravity on the skeletal system, calcium from bones leaches into the body, which besides weakening the bones themselves can lead astronauts to be at higher risk of developing kidney stones.
From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2024
Namely, local bull trout populations are struggling because the pond leaches groundwater away from Gold Creek itself.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
If that fog leaches out of the jungle, or the monkeys return.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
The material is then leached into a wine‑red liquid, filtered, evaporated and finally transformed into a fine white powder -- lithium.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
A carbon water filter can also reduce potential exposure to chemicals and pesticides that may have leached into your water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
The authors of the Communications Earth and Environment paper cite, for example, research showing hydrochloric acid emitted from solid rocket launches killing fish after it leached into nearby water.
From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2025
In a study cited by Liu’s paper, researchers found that some chemicals leached from a black spatula into cooking oil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2024
The tragedy is so old that its horror has leached away and only a certain air of faithlessness and melancholy clings to the stones and shadows of the house.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
As backup, she also built a parallel facility in Australia for an environmentally sensitive processing step, known as cracking and leaching, completed in 2024.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
The chemical is essential in the leaching process of copper, which involves extracting the metal from copper ore.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
Despite recycling efforts, most plastic ends up in landfills where it can take centuries to decompose, leaching out chemicals during that time, Deeney said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 26, 2026
This unusual imbalance suggested that liquid water had once seeped through the rocks, effectively leaching lutetium out of them.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2025
Dressed in shabby pants, with sweat already leaching through the armpits of my white cotton shirt, I felt out of place amid the neighborhood’s neatly manicured lawns and lavish estates.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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