A leech is a small animal which looks like a worm and lives in water. Leeches feed by attaching themselves to other animals and sucking their blood.
2. countable noun
If you describe someone as a leech, you disapprove of them because they deliberately depend on other people, often making money out of them.
[disapproval]
They're just a bunch of leeches cadging off others!
Synonyms: parasite, hanger-on, sycophant, freeloader [slang] More Synonyms of leech
leech in British English1
(liːtʃ)
noun
1.
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 animals
See also horseleech, medicinal leech
2.
a person who clings to or preys on another person
3.
a. an archaic word for physician
b.
(in combination)
leechcraft
4. cling like a leech
verb
5. (transitive)
to use leeches to suck the blood of (a person), as a method of medical treatment
Derived forms
leechlike (ˈleechˌlike)
adjective
Word origin
Old English lǣce, lœce; related to Middle Dutch lieke
leech in British English2
or leach (liːtʃ)
noun
nautical
the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail or either of the vertical edges of a squaresail
Word origin
C15: of Germanic origin; compare Dutch lijk
leech in American English1
(litʃ)
noun
1. Archaic
a physician
2.
any of a subclass (Hirudinea) of mostly flattened, annelid worms living in water or wet earth and having a well-developed sucker at each end: most are bloodsuckers, and one species (Hirudo medicinalis) has been used in medicine, esp. in former times, to bleed patients
3.
a person who clings to another to gain some personal advantage; parasite
verb transitive
4. Obsolete
to heal
5.
to apply leeches to; bleed with leeches
6.
to cling to (another) as a parasite; drain dry
verb intransitive
7.
to act as a parasite
often with onto
Word origin
ME leche < OE læce, akin to OHG lāhhi, Goth lēkeis, magician, healer, OE lacnian, to heal, prob. < IE base *le-, collect, gather together > L lex (see legal); sense leech1 (sense 2) is supposedly same word (from use in medicine), but OE (Kentish) lyce, ME liche, MDu lieke suggest different word assimilated by folk etym.
leech in American English2
(litʃ)
noun
1.
the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail
2.
either of the vertical edges of a square sail
Word origin
LME lyche, akin to ON lik < Du lijk, boltrope < IE base *lei-, to bind, fasten > L ligare, to tie
Examples of 'leech' in a sentence
leech
Happiness leeches are often less emphatic when they feel that others recognise their views.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Happiness leeches spread their bad behaviour.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The Government must sort out leeches likes these.
The Sun (2010)
But this alteration leeches away the story's moral implications.
Christianity Today (2000)
Word lists with
leech
Types of invertebrate
In other languages
leech
British English: leech NOUN
A leech is a small animal which looks like a worm and lives in water. Leeches feed by attaching themselves to other animals and sucking their blood.
American English: leech
Brazilian Portuguese: sanguessuga
Chinese: 水蛭
European Spanish: sanguijuela
French: sangsue
German: Blutegel
Italian: sanguisuga
Japanese: ヒル
Korean: 거머리
European Portuguese: sanguessuga
Latin American Spanish: sanguijuela
(noun)
Definition
a person who lives off another person
They're just a bunch of leeches cadging off others!
Synonyms
parasite
parasites living off the state
hanger-on
five thousand delegates, with 30,000 assorted hangers-on
sycophant
a dictator surrounded by sycophants
freeloader (slang)
sponger (informal)
Is he an aggressive sponger or does he have a case?
ligger (slang)
bloodsucker (informal)
quandong (Australian, slang)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of hanger-on
Definition
an unwanted follower, esp. of a rich or famous person
five thousand delegates, with 30,000 assorted hangers-on
Synonyms
parasite,
follower,
cohort (US),
leech,
dependant,
minion,
lackey,
sycophant,
freeloader (slang),
sponger (informal),
ligger (slang),
quandong (Australian, slang)
in the sense of sponger
Definition
a person who lives off other people by continually taking advantage of their generosity
Is he an aggressive sponger or does he have a case?
Synonyms
scrounger,
parasite,
leech,
hanger-on (informal),
cadge (British),
freeloader (slang),
bloodsucker (informal),
bludger (Australian, New Zealand, informal),
cadger,
quandong (Australian, slang)
in the sense of sycophant
Definition
a person who uses flattery to win favour from people with power or influence