leash
Americannoun
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:
“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
“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
Sri Lanka's police kennels department was mobilised to ensure that local street dogs did not attack Aloka, who was led on a leash held by an army commando.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
A puppy is getting a new leash on life after being rescued with life-threatening facial injuries in Pasadena.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
Wolf’s desperate tugging on the leash broke her panic.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
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
Anguiano said she was untangling the cats’ leashes when Rayne Beau jumped out of the vehicle, slipping out of his collar before dashing toward the forest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2024
The penguins were now so well trained that Mr. Popper decided that it was not necessary to keep them on leashes.
From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater
A German Jew in 1920s Hamburg, Walther Laqueur stands on his home’s front steps with his sleek Doberman leashed and ready for a walk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
According to the woman who witnessed the incident, Gigi was leashed at the time of the attack, Rulon said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2024
But because the leashed dog dispatched another, whatever the reason apparently, or perhaps because the guy hired someone like Alina Habba for his attorney, the dog went down.
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
Hale’s deep-set eyes burned, and he moved, in the words of the reporter, “like a leashed animal.”
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
He envisions having informational screenings playing in the waiting room, building on awareness programs the community is already doing on best practices like leashing and kenneling to keep pets from harm.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2021
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
If honest men agree, they don't need a stamped bit of paper; and if they disagree, where's the point in leashing them together, like a couple of growling dogs?
From The Prodigal Father by Clouston, J. Storer (Joseph Storer)
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.
