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View synonyms for leak

leak

[ leek ]

noun

  1. an unintended hole, crack, or the like, through which liquid, gas, light, etc., enters or escapes:

    a leak in the roof.

  2. an act or instance of leaking.
  3. any means of unintended entrance or escape.
  4. Electricity. the loss of current from a conductor, usually resulting from poor insulation.
  5. a disclosure of secret, especially official, information, as to the news media, by an unnamed source.


verb (used without object)

  1. to let a liquid, gas, light, etc., enter or escape, as through an unintended hole or crack:

    The boat leaks.

  2. to pass in or out in this manner, as liquid, gas, or light:

    gas leaking from a pipe.

  3. to become known unintentionally (usually followed by out ):

    The news leaked out.

  4. to disclose secret, especially official, information anonymously, as to the news media:

    The official revealed that he had leaked to the press in the hope of saving his own reputation.

verb (used with object)

  1. to let (liquid, gas, light, etc.) enter or escape:

    This camera leaks light.

  2. to allow to become known, as information given out covertly:

    to leak the news of the ambassador's visit.

leak

/ liːk /

noun

    1. a crack, hole, etc, that allows the accidental escape or entrance of fluid, light, etc
    2. such escaping or entering fluid, light, etc
  1. spring a leak
    to develop a leak
  2. something resembling this in effect

    a leak in the defence system

  3. the loss of current from an electrical conductor because of faulty insulation, etc
  4. a disclosure, often intentional, of secret information
  5. the act or an instance of leaking
  6. a slang word for urination See urination
“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


verb

  1. to enter or escape or allow to enter or escape through a crack, hole, etc
  2. whenintr, often foll by out to disclose (secret information), often intentionally, or (of secret information) to be disclosed
  3. intr a slang word for urinate
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈleaker, noun
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Other Words From

  • leaker noun
  • leakless adjective
  • non·leaking adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of leak1

1375–1425; 1955–60 leak fordef 11; late Middle English leken < Old Norse leka to drip, leak; akin to Dutch lek, obsolete German lech leaky. See leach 1
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Word History and Origins

Origin of leak1

C15: from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse leka to drip
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. take a leak, Slang: Vulgar. to urinate.
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Example Sentences

Filipino YouTuber Tech Buff brings us an exclusive leak of the device, which has some pixels where there are not normally pixels.

Good filtration removes as many particles as possible, and a good fit means that there are no leaks around the sides of your mask, where air — and viruses — can leak through.

If someone was eating cauliflower near a gas leak, people would die before anyone realized they were in danger.

We've discussed this canceled Xbox 360 game at length over the years, with updates coming mostly in the form of increasingly detailed leaks—and this week's is easily the biggest yet.

In the decade since, there have been no large-scale leaks about the residence.

From Time

Targeting pods can bulge out a bit, and leak out unwanted signals.

The leak suggests that Mr. Obama remains blind to the principal cause of his foreign policy woes.

They simply would not leak this shocking story about big lineup changes on their own accord.

At its core, the tale revealed by the leak of what may be more than a million classified documents is a complicated one.

Local mechanics pitched in to help mend the craft, but weeks into setting off the repairs wore thin and the vessel sprung a leak.

Their sin began on Holy Thursday, with so little secrecy and so bad an example, that the affair was beginning to leak out.

Your composing-room door is locked, and the present item of news destined for your readers is not likely to leak out.

Ash pits near a house carry moisture to walls, Cesspools leak through the soil.

Here sit up to the chin for twenty minutes, shivering at thought of what would happen supposing bath sprang a leak.

The poem was simple and optimistic—it told of the beneficent qualities of rain, as it would appear to one whose roof did not leak.

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Related Words

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.

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