leech

¹

[ leech ]

noun

1. 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.
2. 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.

   Synonyms: sponger, extortionist, bloodsucker

3. Archaic. an instrument used for drawing blood.

verb (used with object)

1. to apply leeches to, so as to bleed.
2. to cling to and feed upon or drain, as a leech:

   His relatives leeched him until his entire fortune was exhausted.

3. Archaic. to cure; heal.

verb (used without object)

1. to hang on to a person in the manner of a leech:

   She leeched on to him for dear life.

leech

²

[ leech ]

noun

, Archaic.

1. a physician.

leech

³

or leach

[ leech ]

noun

, Nautical.

1. either of the lateral edges of a square sail.
2. the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail.

Leech

⁴

[ leech ]

noun

1. Margaret, 1893–1974, U.S. historian, novelist, and biographer.

leech

¹

/ liːtʃ /

noun

1. 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
2. a person who clings to or preys on another person
3. 1. an archaic word for physician
   2. ( in combination )

      leechcraft

4. cling like a leech
   to cling or adhere persistently to something

verb

1. tr to use leeches to suck the blood of (a person), as a method of medical treatment

leech

²

/ liːtʃ /

noun

1. nautical the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail or either of the vertical edges of a squaresail

Derived Forms

• ˈleechˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• leechlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of leech¹

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”

Origin of leech²

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

Origin of leech³

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of leech¹

Old English lǣce, lœce; related to Middle Dutch lieke

Origin of leech²

C15: of Germanic origin; compare Dutch lijk

Example Sentences

The trick, says Phillips, was to scoop up a leech before it could bite you.

From Science News For Students

Annelids, Mollusks, Cnidarians, and NematodesAnnelids are segmented worms like earthworms or leeches, with over 22,000 living species on this planet.

From Nautilus

On a canoe trip down the Spanish River in northern Ontario last month, my friends and I kept noticing an unusually high concentration of really, really big leeches lurking at the shores of our campsites.

From Outside Online

Treatment involved a “toxic arsenal of emetics, laxatives, diuretics, and expectorants” as well as “lances, leeches, and blisters.”

From Washington Post

If neglected, any system can become a host upon which all other systems will leech.

From The Daily Beast

To live with anxiety is to live with a leech that saps you of your energy, confidence, and chutzpah.

From The Daily Beast

Sybil (Jessica Brown Findlay) and Branson (Allen Leech) got married and were happy.

From The Daily Beast

Verily, there is not a leech that sucks out the blood from the body more than these little ships do this camp of men.

From Project Gutenberg

Leech, the caricaturist,—one of the most absurdly over-rated men of this century,—was at Charterhouse from 1825 to 1831.

From Project Gutenberg

The old lady overhead has a shrewd tongue, but she is a marvellous good leech.

From Project Gutenberg

It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood; he lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.

From Project Gutenberg

The viper says to the leech, ‘Why do people invite your bite, and flee from mine?’

From Project Gutenberg