leach

[leech]

verb (used with object)

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)

(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.

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

Related formsleach·a·ble, adjectiveleach·a·bil·i·ty, nounleach·er, nounun·leached, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for leached

seep, filter, strain, percolate, extract, filtrate, lixiviate

Examples from the Web for leached

Contemporary Examples of leached

And yet, if you look closely, it's there, it's leached into literature.
The Best Stoner Novels
Sam Munson
April 20, 2010

Historical Examples of leached

Why are leached ashes inferior to those that have not been leached?
The Elements of Agriculture
George E. Waring
Leach′-trough, -tub, a trough or tub in which ashes are leached.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various
All the earth in sight has been worked for saltpeter, leached, and thrown aside.
Archeological Investigations
Gerard Fowke
Salt would not have been leached out of the soil and gathered in the seas.
Operation: Outer Space
William Fitzgerald Jenkins
When these rocks lie nearer the surface than the line of drainage, the saline materials are leached away.
Historic Highways of America (Vol. 1)
Archer Butler Hulbert

British Dictionary definitions for leached

Leach

noun

Bernard (Howell). 1887–1979, British potter, born in Hong Kong

leach

verb

to remove or be removed from a substance by a percolating liquid
to lose or cause to lose soluble substances by the action of a percolating liquid
another word for percolate (def. 1), percolate (def. 2)

noun

the act or process of leaching
a substance that is leached or the constituents removed by leaching
a porous vessel for leaching

Derived Formsleacher, noun

Word Origin for leach

C17: variant of obsolete letch to wet, perhaps from Old English leccan to water; related to leak

leach

noun

a variant spelling of leech 2

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

Word Origin and History for leached

leach

Old English leccan "to moisten, water, wet, irrigate," (see leak). The word disappears, then re-emerges late 18c. in a technological sense in reference to percolating liquids. Related: Leached; leaching.