any bloodsucking or carnivorous aquatic or terrestrial worm of the class Hirudinea, certain freshwater species of which were formerly much used in medicine for bloodletting.
a person who clings to another for personal gain, especially without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other's resources; parasite.
Archaic. an instrument used for drawing blood.
to apply leeches to, so as to bleed.
to cling to and feed upon or drain, as a leech.
His relatives leeched him until his entire fortune was exhausted.
Archaic. to cure; heal.
either of the lateral edges of a square sail.
the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail.
any annelid worm of the class Hirudinea, which have a sucker at each end of the body and feed on the blood or tissues of other animals See also horseleech medicinal leech
a person who clings to or preys on another person
an archaic word for physician
( in combination )
leechcraft
to cling or adhere persistently to something
First recorded before 900; Middle English lech(e), Old English lǣce, lȳce; replacing (by association with leech 2 ) Middle English liche, Old English lȳce; cognate with Middle Dutch lake, leke, lieke; akin to Old English lūcan “to pull up, pull out,” Middle High German liechen “to pull”
First recorded before 950; Middle English leche, lech, lecche, Old English lǣce, lēce; cognate with Old Frisian letza, leischa, Old Saxon lāki, Old High German lāhhi, Gothic lēkeis; akin to Old Norse lǣknir
First recorded in 1480–90; earlier lek, leche, lyche; akin to Dutch lijk “leech, leech line,” Old Norse līk nautical term of uncertain meaning, but probably “bolt rope, leech line”
A leech is a kind of worm that feeds by sucking blood from other animals. You might find yourself needing to pull a leech off your leg after swimming in a lake. Because leeches are parasites, it's common for people to use the word as a metaphor for someone who sponges off of other people. If you have a friend who is always borrowing money but never pays it back, and who is known for requesting favors without granting them in return, you can call him a leech. The blood-sucking leech was once commonly used by doctors who treated patients by "bleeding" them, a practice that's still occasionally used in medicine today.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And I wanted to leech off of that.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
The way the leech plops onto the forest floor in the 2017 video, with very little obvious control of its landing, seems to be common among these creatures.
From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2024
They hope that their new leech devices will soon be able to play a part in the health of children and anyone else who is afraid of needles.
From Science Daily • May 2, 2024
As I inched up the rope, my arms ached, my left sock squished with blood from a leech bite, and I was marinating in sweat.
From National Geographic • Jan. 23, 2024
She hands me a cup of spicy cayenne tea and another sliver of chocolate, and adds a leech to each wrist.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
