leach

Meanings

Plural: leaches

Noun

the process of leaching
A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.
Alternative spelling of leech.
A jelly-like sweetmeat popular in the fifteenth century.

Verb

cause (a liquid) to leach or percolate
permeate or penetrate gradually
- "the fertilizer leached into the ground"
remove substances from by a percolating liquid
- "leach the soil"
To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.
To part with soluble constituents by percolation.
To bleed; to seep.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English leche (“leachate; sluggish stream”), from Old English *lǣċ, *lǣċe (“muddy stream”), from Proto-Germanic *lēkijō (“a leak, drain, flow”)
(compare Proto-Germanic *lekaną (“to leak, drain”)), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to leak”).
Cognate with Old English leċċan (“to water, moisten”), Old English lacu (“stream, pool, pond”). More at leak, lake.

Synonyms

leaching, percolate, strip

Scrabble Score: 10

leach is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
leach is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
leach is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

leach is a valid Words With Friends word