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leech

 - 12 dictionary results

leech

1  [leech]
Use leech in a Sentence
–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, esp. without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other's resources; parasite.
3. Archaic. an instrument used for drawing blood.
–verb (used with object)
4. to apply leeches to, so as to bleed.
5. to cling to and feed upon or drain, as a leech: His relatives leeched him until his entire fortune was exhausted.
6. Archaic. to cure; heal.
–verb (used without object)
7. to hang on to a person in the manner of a leech: She leeched on to him for dear life.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME leche, OE lǣce; r. (by confusion with leech 2 ) ME liche, OE lȳce; c. MD lieke; akin to OE lūcan to pull out, MHG liechen to pull

Related forms:
leechlike, adjective

Synonyms:
2. bloodsucker; extortioner; sponger.

leech

2  [leech]
–noun Archaic.
a physician.
Origin:
bef. 1150; ME leche, OE lǣce; c. OS lāki, OHG lāhhi, Goth lēkeis; akin to ON lǣknir

leech

3  [leech]
–noun Nautical.
1. either of the lateral edges of a square sail.
2. the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail.
Also, leach.

Origin:
1480–90; earlier lek, leche, lyche; akin to D lijk leech, ON līk nautical term of uncert. meaning

Leech

  [leech]
–noun
Margaret, 1893–1974, U.S. historian, novelist, and biographer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To leech
leech 1   (lēch)   
n.  

  1. Any of various chiefly aquatic bloodsucking or carnivorous annelid worms of the class Hirudinea, of which one species (Hirudo medicinalis) was formerly used by physicians to bleed patients and is now sometimes used as a temporary aid to circulation during surgical reattachment of a body part.

  2. One that preys on or clings to another; a parasite.

  3. Archaic A physician.

v.   leeched, leech·ing, leech·es

v.   tr.

  1. To bleed with leeches.

  2. To drain the essence or exhaust the resources of.

v.   intr.
To attach oneself to another in the manner of a leech.

[Middle English leche, physician, leech, from Old English lǣce; see leg- in Indo-European roots.]
leech 2   (lēch)   
n.   Nautical

  1. Either vertical edge of a square sail.

  2. The after edge of a fore-and-aft sail.


[Middle English leche, probably from Middle Low German līk, leech line; see leig- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

leech  (1)
"bloodsucking aquatic worm," from O.E. læce (Kentish lyce), of unknown origin (with a cognate in M.Du. lake). Commonly regarded as a transf. use of leech (2), but the O.E. forms suggest a distinct word, which has been assimilated to leech (2) by folk etymology. Figuratively applied to human parasites since 1784.

leech  (2)
obsolete for "physician," from O.E. læce, from O.Dan. læke, from P.Gmc. *lælijaz "healer, physician" (cf. O.N. læknir, O.H.G. lahhi, Goth. lekeis "physician"), lit. "one who counsels," perhaps connected with a root found in Celt. (cf. Ir. liaig "charmer, exorcist, physician") and/or Slavic (cf. Serbo-Croatian lijekar), with an original sense of "speak, talk, whisper, conjurer." The form and sense merged with leech (1) in M.E. by folk etymology. In 17c., leech usually was applied only to veterinary practitioners. The third finger of the hand, in O.E., was læcfinger, translating L. digitus medicus, Gk. daktylus iatrikos, supposedly because a vein from that finger stretches straight to the heart.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1leech
Pronunciation: 'lEch
Function: noun
: any of numerous carnivorous or bloodsucking annelid worms that comprise the classHirudinea, that typically have a flattened segmented lance-shaped body with well-marked external annulations, a sucker at each end, a mouth within the anterior sucker, and a large stomach with pouchesof large capacity at the sides, that are hermaphroditic usually with direct development, and that occur chiefly in freshwater although a few are marine and some tropical forms are terrestrial—see MEDICINAL LEECH

Main Entry: 2leech
Function: transitive verb
1 : to treat as a physician : CURE, HEAL
2 : to bleed by the use of leeches
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

leech 1 (lēch)
n.
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. v. leeched, leech·ing, leech·es
To bleed with leeches.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Computing Dictionary

leech networking
Someone who downloads files but provides nothing for others to download. The term is common on BitTorrent, which relies on having multiple sources for files to improve download speed.
(2007-03-27)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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