leak
Americannoun
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leaks
plural
-
an unintended hole, crack, or the like, through which liquid, gas, light, etc., enters or escapes.
a leak in the roof.
-
an act or instance of leaking.
-
any means of unintended entrance or escape.
-
Electricity. the loss of current from a conductor, usually resulting from poor insulation.
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a disclosure of secret, especially official, information, as to the news media, by an unnamed source.
verb (used without object)
-
leaks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
leaked,
past participle, past
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leaking
present participle
-
to let a liquid, gas, light, etc., enter or escape, as through an unintended hole or crack.
The boat leaks.
-
to pass in or out in this manner, as liquid, gas, or light.
gas leaking from a pipe.
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to become known unintentionally (usually followed byout ).
The news leaked out.
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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)
-
leaks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
leaked,
past participle, past
-
leaking
present participle
-
to let (liquid, gas, light, etc.) enter or escape.
This camera leaks light.
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to allow to become known, as information given out covertly.
to leak the news of the ambassador's visit.
idioms
noun
-
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a crack, hole, etc, that allows the accidental escape or entrance of fluid, light, etc
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such escaping or entering fluid, light, etc
-
-
to develop a leak
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something resembling this in effect
a leak in the defence system
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the loss of current from an electrical conductor because of faulty insulation, etc
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a disclosure, often intentional, of secret information
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the act or an instance of leaking
-
a slang word for urination See urination
verb
-
to enter or escape or allow to enter or escape through a crack, hole, etc
-
to disclose (secret information), often intentionally, or (of secret information) to be disclosed
-
(intr) a slang word for urinate
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
leaksimple
-
leakssimple
-
have leakedperfect
-
has leakedperfect
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am leakingprogressive
-
are leakingprogressive
-
is leakingprogressive
-
have been leakingperfect progressive
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has been leakingperfect progressive
Past
-
leakedsimple
-
had leakedperfect
-
was leakingprogressive
-
were leakingprogressive
-
had been leakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of leak
1375–1425; 1955–60 leak for def. 11; late Middle English leken < Old Norse leka to drip, leak; akin to Dutch lek, obsolete German lech leaky. See leach 1
Explanation
A leak involves the release of something. It can be a behind-someone’s-back leak of sensitive information, a leak from a milk carton, or a leak in the roof that lets rain water drip in. As a verb, leak means to allow light or fluid to escape, or to enter or escape as though through a hole. Light can leak in through the curtains, water can leak out of an almost-closed faucet, or information can leak to the press. A leak is almost always a bad thing — it indicates that something that should be contained has broken out or escaped.
Vocabulary lists containing leak
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 6
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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:
The move comes after nationwide protests triggered by the leak of a key medical entrance examination paper and a series of other recruitment scandals.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
"The leak has been there for two to three months and no-one seems to be doing anything about it," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
“A small number of officials leak information in violation of regulations,” Banyuetan, a magazine published by the official Xinhua News Agency, said in a recent report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
During the Edward Snowden leak in 2013, he was effectively the public face of the intelligence community defending against Snowden’s revelations.
From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2026
We had to be this careful, in order to know where the leak was coming from.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
The paper's headline contrasts the 24 million customers now facing bigger bills with the companies who continue to lose 1.2bn litres in leaks every day.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Water companies had failed to make sufficient investment over the last 30 years, she said, leaving customers with "leaks, pollution and soaring bills".
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
The party’s attempts to plug such leaks have become a game of cat and mouse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Oman is facing an impending environmental catastrophe as an alleged Russian shadow fleet tanker leaks oil across hundreds of square kilometres near a nature reserve, NGOs warn.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
We had done our best to repair the holes in the roof, but there were still one or two little leaks that dribbled all the time.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
Our team spent a year investigating how this happened, drawing on a trove of leaked data, interviews and never-before-seen video.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
A senior doctor has blamed NHS chiefs for numerous problems within transplant services in England and called for an overhaul in a leaked letter seen by the BBC.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
And it emerged from a damages suit about leaked records that placed no tax liability in controversy.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
Though the story eventually leaked in Canada and later aired on CBS in its original form, the message Weiss sent to the newsroom was unmistakable.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
They burned a lot of fuel, and they used castor oil, which leaked and splattered all over the cockpit after a few flights.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Since the protests, authorities have attempted to appease the nation's youth, with the parliament hiking penalties for leaking exam papers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
After weeks of leaking lower, bullish call options were suddenly bid to the moon, McElligott noted.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
He accused them of leaking "individual bank statements, bank transfers, details of conversations with bank managers from different banks".
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Board members asked if residual ammonia could be leaking from the open pipes that weave throughout the building.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
As she passed the kitchen Coraline could hear, in the sudden silence, the drip-drip of the water from the leaking tap or perhaps the other mother’s long fingernails tapping impatiently against the table.
From "Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
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.
