leech1
- 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.
- to hang on to a person in the manner of a leech: She leeched on to him for dear life.
Origin of leech1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for leech on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for leeching
Contemporary Examples
Improper burial, Dove says, could mean that harmful bacteria are leeching into the waterways.
And not just in our air or leeching into our ocean, but potentially showing up on our plate.
Historical Examples
Then Leeching, after loading his pistol, went to work with his comrade for an hour or so.
The Golden ButterflyWalter Besant
Leeching, however, is seldom needed, a hypodermic injection of morphia generally sufficing to relieve the pain.
Leeching and blistering, and subsequently massage, pulled him through, but left him weak and querulous.
Should the pain not subside, leeching must be had free recourse to, or blood be drawn by cupping.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume IIArnold Cooley
No wonder gout was a common disease, and the overheated blood needed to be reduced by cupping and leeching.
The Colonial CavalierMaud Wilder Goodwin
leech1
- 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 animalsSee also horseleech, medicinal leech
- a person who clings to or preys on another person
- an archaic word for physician
- (in combination)leechcraft
- cling like a leech to cling or adhere persistently to something
- (tr) to use leeches to suck the blood of (a person), as a method of medical treatment
Word Origin
leech2
leach
- nautical the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail or either of the vertical edges of a squaresail
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for leeching
leech
n.1
"bloodsucking aquatic worm," from Old English læce (Kentish lyce), of unknown origin (with a cognate in Middle Dutch lake). Commonly regarded as a transferred use of leech (n.2), but the Old English forms suggest a distinct word, which has been assimilated to leech (n.2) by folk etymology [see OED]. Figuratively applied to human parasites since 1784.
leech
n.2
obsolete for "physician," from Old English læce, probably from Old Danish læke, from Proto-Germanic *lekjaz "enchanter, one who speaks magic words; healer, physician" (cf. Old Frisian letza, Old Saxon laki, Old Norse læknir, Old High German lahhi, Gothic lekeis "physician"), literally "one who counsels," perhaps connected with a root found in Celtic (cf. Irish liaig "charmer, exorcist, physician") and Slavic (cf. Serbo-Croatian lijekar, Polish lekarz), from PIE *lep-agi "conjurer," from root *leg- "to collect," with derivatives meaning "to speak" (see lecture (n.)).
For sense development, cf. Old Church Slavonic baliji "doctor," originally "conjurer," related to Serbo-Croatian bajati "enchant, conjure;" Old Church Slavonic vrači, Russian vrač "doctor," related to Serbo-Croatian vrač "sorcerer, fortune-teller." The form merged with leech (n.1) in Middle English, apparently by folk etymology. In 17c., leech usually was applied only to veterinary practitioners. The fourth finger of the hand, in Old English, was læcfinger, translating Latin digitus medicus, Greek daktylus iatrikos, supposedly because a vein from that finger stretches straight to the heart.
leech
(lēch)- Any of various chiefly aquatic bloodsucking or carnivorous annelid worms of the class Hirudinea, one species of which (Hirudo medicinalis) was formerly used by physicians to bleed patients.
- To bleed with leeches.