leech
nounEtymology
From Middle English leche (“physician”), from Old English lǣċe (“doctor, physician”), from Proto-West Germanic *lākī, from Proto-Germanic *lēkijaz (“doctor”), of disputed origin, but usually thought to be connected with Proto-Celtic (compare Old Irish líaig (“charmer, exorcist, physician”)); perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to collect, gather”). Cognate with Old Frisian lētza (“physician”), Old Saxon lāki (“physician”), Old High German lāhhi (“doctor, healer”), Danish læge (“doctor, surgeon”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍃 (lēkeis, “physician”). Slavic words such as Serbo-Croatian ljèkār, Polish lekarz (“physician, doctor”) are usually considered to be borrowings from Germanic.
Definitions
A typically aquatic blood-sucking annelid of the subclass Hirudinea, especially Hirudo…
A typically aquatic blood-sucking annelid of the subclass Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
- The leech on his leg had swelled to more than five inches long, puffed and swollen on his blood.
A person who derives advantage from others in a parasitic fashion.
- 'Wrecked his body and his mind, no use to hisself or his family or nobody, just a leech on society'.
- At this point, I felt this man was a leech. I suspected that he had spent a lifetime living off the good will of women that he met.
A glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.
›+ 8 more definitionsshow fewer
To apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.
- The poppy made him sleep and while he slept they leeched him to drain off the bad blood.
To drain (resources) without giving back.
- Near-synonyms: mooch, suck down
- Bert leeched hundreds of files from the BBS, but never uploaded anything in return.
- Her daughter Astrid (new Tim Burton muse Jenna Ortega) barely speaks to her, and her greasy-haired boyfriend Rory (Justin Theroux, proving once again to be a comedic tour de force) obviously leeching off her fame and money
A physician.
- Many skillful leeches him abide to salve his hurts.
- The word Physitian we do vulgarly abuse (as we doe very many other(s)) for a Leech , or Medicus.
- 1610, Bolton, Armoriesː As if an expert leech must needs be expert in the physicks (that is, in those speculations which concerne the workes of nature) the nearest word to fall with our tongue, yet not farre from the thing, was physitian.
A healer.
- Their functions are threefold, those of the medicine-man (the leech, or healer by supernatural means); of the soothsayer (the prophet through communion with the invisible world); and of the priest, especially in his capacity as exorcist
- "Leech?" "Not another doctor".
To treat, cure or heal.
- 1564, Accounts of Louth Corporalː Paid for leeching.. my horses very sick.
- 1566–74, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotlandː To one man (that) broke his leg in Strivelin … Item to the man that leecheth him.
- though there are many Pretenders to the Art of Farriering and Cow-leeching, yet many of them are very ignorant , especially in the Countrie
The vertical edge of a square sail.
- To help combat these problems, almost all sailmakers trim the leeches of their headsails to a hollow or concave profile and enclose a LEECHLINE within the leech tabling.
The aft edge of a triangular sail.
- Trim the leech of the jib parallel to the main by watching the slot between the mainsail and the jib.
A surname originating as an occupation, derived from the profession leech, a former word…
A surname originating as an occupation, derived from the profession leech, a former word for a physician.
The neighborhood
- synonymsponger
- synonymbloodsucker
- synonymvampire
- neighborfoot
- neighborluff
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for leech. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA