leach
verb (used with object)
to dissolve out soluble constituents from (ashes, soil, etc.) by percolation.
Showing results for "leach"
- a variation of leech.
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
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
“We believe investors should wait to see more definitive results from wider spaced leach trials first before making an investment decision,” Macquarie says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
I don’t want a blanket, even if the marble continues to leach my body heat.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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
They scored from their first set as a high kick into the sun on the last tackle was spilled by young Saints full-back Liv Leach and bounced invitingly for Derbyshire to score.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
A stubborn last-wicket stand looked set to deny Stokes' men until Jack Leach got one to slide on and trap Naseem Shah lbw, sparking joyous scenes.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Now, Leach typically logs one big trail run—usually 15-plus miles—per week alongside his other workouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
I’d been hoping to get Ms. Leach for fifth grade.
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
Sometimes, the chemical “sauce” leaches out of plastic, a process that, research has shown, can be toxic.
From Slate ● May 28, 2025
Namely, local bull trout populations are struggling because the pond leaches groundwater away from Gold Creek itself.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
But in some places, fluoride leaches from rocks into the groundwater.
From Salon ● May 7, 2024
"Then there are the pesticides for insects and fungicides for parasites. It is a monoculture which kills off biodiversity and leaches chemicals into our rivers."
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2023
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
The harmful pollutant has leached into water in many parts of the valley from sources including fertilizers, dairies and septic tanks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 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
The chemical is essential in the leaching process of copper, which involves extracting the metal from copper ore.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
Nickel and cobalt processing are also seeing higher costs because sulfur is used in high-pressure acid leaching.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
That makes them significantly better at leaching copper from ore than conventional methods using acids, which often only capture up to half of the metal contained in the rock, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2025
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
I feel instantly better, the tension leaching out of my neck and shoulders.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
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.
