English

Dog on a leash.

Surf leash.

Noun

leash ‎(plural leashes)

1. A strap, cord or rope with which to restrain an animal, often a dog.
   • Shakespeare

     like a fawning greyhound in the leash

2. A brace and a half; a tierce.
3. A set of three; three creatures of any kind, especially greyhounds, foxes, bucks, and hares; hence, the number three in general.
   • 1597, Henry IV part 1, by Shakespeare

     Sirrah, I am sworn brother to a leash of drawers; and can call them all by their Christian names, as, Tom, Dick, and Francis.

   • 1663, Hudibras, by Samuel Butler, part 1, canto 1

     It had an odd promiscuous tone, / As if h' had talk'd three parts in one; / Which made some think, when he did gabble, / Th' had heard three labourers of Babel; / Or Cerberus himself pronounce / A leash of languages at once.

   • Ben Jonson

     [I] kept my chamber a leash of days.

   • Tennyson

     Then were I wealthier than a leash of kings.

4. A string with a loop at the end for lifting warp threads, in a loom.
5. (surfing) A leg rope.

   1980: Probably the idea was around before that, but the first photo of the leash in action was published that year — As Years Roll By (1970's Retrospective), Drew Kampion, Surfing magazine, February 1980, page 43. Quoted at surfresearch.com.au glossary.

Synonyms

• (strap or cord used to restrain a dog): lead

Translations

Verb

leash ‎(third-person singular simple present leashes, present participle leashing, simple past and past participle leashed)

1. To fasten or secure with a leash.
2. (figuratively) to curb, restrain
   • 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:

     Man is brow-beaten, leashed, muzzled, masked, and lashed by boards and councils, by leagues and societies, by church and state.

Antonyms

• unleash verb

Translations

References

• leash in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• “leash”, in OED Online, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Anagrams

• hales
• halse
• heals
• Sahel
• Selah
• shale