Dictionary › L › leech
leech
1 syllableYour browser doesn’t have built-in voices. Try Chrome, Edge or Safari.
As a noun, leech means an aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis. As a verb, it means apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.
Meanings of leech
12 meaningsnoun
An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
figurativelyA person who derives profit from others in a parasitic fashion.
germanic paganismA healer.
nauticalThe vertical edge of a square sail.
nauticalThe aft edge of a triangular sail.
Carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms typically having a sucker at each endanimal
Similar: bloodsucker, hirudinean
Older and rare meanings (2)
medicinedatedA glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.
archaicA physician.
verb
literallyTo apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.
figurativelyTo drain (resources) without giving back.
“Bert leeched hundreds of files from the BBS, but never uploaded anything in return.”
Older and rare meanings (1)
archaicrareTo treat, cure or heal.
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).