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leachate

American

[lee-chayt] / 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.

See Examples For:

leachate

The leachate is byproduct of an underground garbage fire that has only spread since it was first confirmed in 2023.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

A spokesperson said the comparison between its summer and winter sampling indicated a "relatively constant source of pollution; likely groundwater and landfill leachate rather than urban run-off".

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

“We keep hearing about liners and leachate, but we’re not hearing about wind,” said Erick Fefferman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2025

The new study is unusual in that it calculated the mass of microplastics in landfill leachate and wastewater influent and effluent.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2024

Souyoultzis says this is not the same as compost tea and should be discarded — often anaerobic, it’s not appropriate to use leachate near growing plants.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023

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