leash
Americannoun
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leashes
plural
noun
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a line or rope used to walk or control a dog or other animal; lead
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something resembling this in function
he kept a tight leash on his emotions
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hunting three of the same kind of animal, usually hounds, foxes, or hares
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eagerly impatient to begin something
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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leashsimple
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leashessimple
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have leashedperfect
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has leashedperfect
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am leashingprogressive
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are leashingprogressive
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is leashingprogressive
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have been leashingperfect progressive
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has been leashingperfect progressive
Past
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leashedsimple
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had leashedperfect
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was leashingprogressive
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were leashingprogressive
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had been leashingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of leash
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English lesh, variant of lece, lese, from Old French laisse; see lease 1
Explanation
Dog owners who live in the city need a leash, a rope or cord attached to the dog's collar that helps his owner keep him safe and restrained. When you walk a dog, you hold his leash to guide him along the sidewalk and keep him from chasing squirrels into busy streets. The word leash is also useful for describing a figurative kind of guide or restraint: "The teachers at that school keep their students on a short leash when they take field trips downtown." The students aren't on actual leashes, but they are constrained. Leash comes from the Old French word laissier, or "loose."
Vocabulary lists containing leash
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:
Gnocchi wears a pink collar with his name on it, an air tag and a red harness with a leash.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
“You are dealing with imperfect information. So the mindset is to take down the exposure if it is the beginning of the end. We have a short leash on these stocks,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
She added there had been "no safety briefing" beforehand, none of the participants had the right type of leash for their boards in these conditions and Lloyd did not have any next of kin details.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
“The ice is really thin. The leash is very tight,” said Dan Morgan, portfolio manager and analyst at Synovus Trust, which owns shares of OpenAI partners like Oracle, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
He tugged on the leash, trying to move the trees closer together.
From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret
Not many indoor cats like leashes or traversing the great outdoors with their person.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Despite the screwball setup, “The Hitch” is, as much as anything, a moving meditation on loneliness, longing and familial short leashes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
He muscled it into the cage elevator, leashes in hand, the machine balanced against his hip like a prize wrested from fate.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2025
She added: "The ankle leashes attached to the boards of those stuck in the hydraulic spin, which are totally unsuitable for fast-flowing water, made it even harder for them to get free."
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2025
The leashes of the hawks were plaited out of white hone leather.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
“My position on the closure is I see it as a loan the city gave us during an emergency pandemic,” said Roche, a car-shop owner who was cradling his leashed Bengal cat, named Cheetah.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
Experts have advised pet owners to keep their dogs leashed when they’re near the shoreline and not to approach any marine mammal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025
In defense of his owner, the leashed dog dispatched the attacking canine in less than 30 seconds – enough for a TikTok video, had TikTok been around in the 80s.
From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2024
Many human-bear interactions could be avoided if people took basic precautions, such as not leaving food out, keeping their pets inside or leashed, and storing trash in bear-proof receptacles.
From National Geographic ● Sep. 25, 2023
Years later, a reporter described how he’d still pace before a fire “like a leashed animal. He nervously rubbed his hands into the flames. His rather ruddy face was aglow with cold and excitement.”
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
This includes proper training, identifying problematic behaviours, leashing dogs in public and microchipping pets.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2025
I would feel differently, if say, you were in a public park that required leashing and the dog that attacked Lulu was off-leash.
From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2023
The agency recommends making noise and leashing pets while hiking in bear territory.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 22, 2022
Last week, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez sponsored the "Responsible Dog Ownership Act," which would create stronger laws related to the leashing and fencing of dogs.
From Fox News ● Mar. 30, 2021
I've done what I've done by following one law: the leashing of forces.
From Destiny by Charles Neville Buck
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
