to dissolve out soluble constituents from (ashes, soil, etc.) by percolation.
to cause (water or other liquid) to percolate through something.
(of ashes, soil, etc.) to undergo the action of percolating water.
to percolate, as water.
the act or process of leaching.
a product or solution obtained by leaching; leachate.
the material leached.
a vessel for use in leaching.
the act or process of leaching
a substance that is leached or the constituents removed by leaching
a porous vessel for leaching
1425–75; late Middle English leche leachate, infusion, probably Old English *læc ( e ), *lec ( e ), akin to leccan to wet, moisten, causative of leak
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
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
“Underground and in-situ leach mining operations are also less exposed to diesel supply risks.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
However they said that their modelling study still does not take into account an array of other ways plastic could harm health, such as microplastics or chemicals that can leach out of food packaging.
From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026
I don’t want a blanket, even if the marble continues to leach my body heat.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
