leaky
Americanadjective
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allowing liquid, gas, etc., to enter or escape.
a leaky boat; a leaky container.
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Informal. unreliable.
a leaky memory; a leaky tongue.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of leaky
Explanation
Leaky things accidentally allow water (or gas) to pass through them. A leaky bucket is a bad thing, and a leaky diaper is even worse. A leaky hose lets water squirt out at different points, and a leaky helium balloon plummets to the ground, deflating as it falls. You can also talk about a leaky government, or a leaky newsroom — in other words, a group or a person guilty of exposing information that's meant to be kept secret or confidential. This kind of leak is a "deliberate disclosure of information," and it dates from the 1950s.
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.
