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
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
They are encased and unlikely to leach into the soil.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2026
They need acid to leach metal from copper-oxide ore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
The black orb on top seemed to leach the color right out of the air.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Leach visited several branches Friday before finding a manageable line in Marina del Rey.
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
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
Brody Leach was reported to have entered the river in Shrewsbury in jeans and no T-shirt just after 04:00 BST on Friday.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
I’d been hoping to get Ms. Leach for fifth grade.
From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate
These values indicate that only a small portion of the total contaminants actually leaches out under conditions mimicking oral contact.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 28, 2025
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
But in some places, fluoride leaches from rocks into the groundwater.
From Salon ● May 7, 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
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 black leached right out, just like Aunt Carrie said it would.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
The chemical is essential in the leaching process of copper, which involves extracting the metal from copper ore.
From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026
Plastic cigarette filters are the world's most littered item, leaching toxic chemicals into the environment and breaking down into microplastics -- while doing very little for the smoker, the secretariat said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2025
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
It took a second for him to register the cold and the damp leaching into his sneakers.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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