Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Leak

Leak

(lēk)
,
Noun.
[Akin to D.
lek
leaky, a leak, G.
leck
, Icel.
lekr
leaky, Dan.
læk
leaky, a leak, Sw.
läck
; cf. AS.
hlec
full of cracks or leaky. Cf.
Leak
,
Verb.
]
1.
A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape;
as, a
leak
in a roof; a
leak
in a boat; a
leak
in a gas pipe.
“One leak will sink a ship.”
Bunyan.
2.
The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture;
as, the
leak
gained on the ship’s pumps
.
To spring a leak
,
to open or crack so as to let in water; to begin to let in water;
as, the ship
sprung a leak
.

Leak

,
Adj.
Leaky.
[Obs.]
Spenser.

Leak

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Leaked
(lēkt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Leaking
.]
[Akin to D.
lekken
, G.
lecken
,
lechen
, Icel.
leka
, Dan.
lække
, Sw.
läcka
, AS.
leccan
to wet, moisten. See
Leak
,
Noun.
]
1.
To let water or other fluid in or out through a hole, crevice, etc.;
as, the cask
leaks
; the roof
leaks
; the boat
leaks
.
2.
To enter or escape, as a fluid, through a hole, crevice, etc.; to pass gradually into, or out of, something; – usually with
in
or
out
.
To leak out
,
to be divulged gradually or clandestinely; to become public; as,
the facts
leaked out
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Leak

LEAK

,
Noun.
[Gr. a fissure or crevice, L. lacero and loquor, and perhaps Eng. clack. It seems that licerish is from the root of leak, and signifies properly watery.]
1.
A crack, crevice, fissure or hole in a vessel, that admits water, or permits a fluid to escape.
2.
The oozing or passing of water or other fluid or liquor through a crack, fissure or aperture in a vessel, either into it, as into a ship, or out of it, as out of a cask.
To spring a leak, is to open or crack so as to let in water; to being to let in water.

LEAK

,
Adj.
Leaky. [Not in use.]

LEAK

,
Verb.
I.
To let water or other liquor into or out of a vessel, through a hole or crevice in the vessel. A ship leaks, when she admits water through her seams or an aperture in her bottom or sides, into the hull. A pail or a cask leaks, when it admits liquor to pass out through a hole or crevice.
To lead out, to find vent; to escape privately from confinement or secrecy; as a fact or report.

Definition 2024

leak

leak

English

Noun

leak ‎(plural leaks)

  1. A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
    a leak in a roof
    a leak in a boat
    a leak in a gas pipe
  2. The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture.
    The leak gained on the ship's pumps.
    The babies' diapers had big leaks.
  3. A divulgation, or disclosure, of information previously held secret.
    The leaks by Chelsea Manning showed the secrets of the US military.
  4. The person through whom such divulgation, or disclosure, occurs.
    The press must have learned about the plan through a leak.
  5. A loss of electricity through imperfect insulation, or the point where it occurs.
  6. (computing) The gradual loss of a system resource caused by failure to deallocate previously reserved portions.
    resource leak
    memory leak
  7. (vulgar, slang, especially with the verb "take") An act of urination.
    I have to take a leak.

Translations


Verb

leak ‎(third-person singular simple present leaks, present participle leaking, simple past and past participle leaked)

  1. To allow fluid to escape or enter something that should be sealed.
    The faucet has been leaking since last month.
  2. To reveal secret information.
    Someone must have leaked it to our competitors that the new product will be out soon.

Translations

Adjective

leak ‎(comparative more leak, superlative most leak)

  1. (obsolete) Leaky.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.8:
      Yet is the bottle leake, and bag so torne, / That all which I put in fals out anon […].

Anagrams

German

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /liːk/

Verb

leak

  1. Imperative singular of leaken.
  2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of leaken.

Etymology

From Middle English leken ‎(“to let water in or out”), from Middle Dutch leken ‎(“to leak, drip”) or Old Norse leka ‎(“to leak, drip”); both from Proto-Germanic *lekaną ‎(“to leak, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg-, *leǵ- ‎(“to leak”). Cognate with Dutch lekken ‎(“to leak”), German lechen, lecken ‎(“to leak”), Swedish läcka ‎(“to leak”), Icelandic leka ‎(“to leak”). Related also to Old English leċċan ‎(“to water, wet”), Albanian lag, lak ‎(“I damp, make wet”). See also leach, lake.

Pronunciation

  • enPR: lēk, IPA(key): /liːk/
  • Rhymes: -iːk
  • Homophone: leek

Similar Results