leachate

American

[lee-cheyt] / ˈli tʃeɪt /

noun

a solution resulting from leaching, as of soluble constituents from soil, landfill, etc., by downward percolating groundwater.

Leachates in the town's water supply have been traced to a chemical-waste dump.

leachate British

/ ˈliːtʃeɪt /

noun

water that carries salts dissolved out of materials through which it has percolated, esp polluted water from a refuse tip

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of leachate

First recorded in 1930–35; leach ¹ + -ate ²

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.

The analysis revealed that while landfills do a good job of retaining microplastics, their leachate contains high levels of PFAS.

From Science Daily • Nov. 19, 2024

As the air district ordered, landfill workers have drilled and installed 220 new gas collection wells and 80 pumps to extract piping-hot landfill gases and leachate.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 30, 2024

The smoke and leachate from the “always burning” landfill are an obvious health hazard, Furtula said.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 11, 2024

They then poured different concentrations of the remaining leachate into seawater cultures and incubated them on deck for four days.

From Science Daily • Nov. 30, 2023

Every day, the plant processes about 130 or so tons of leachate from waste-collection companies in the surrounding area.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2023

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023