[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/leech/)

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# leech

noun (a leech, leeches); verb (leech, leeches, leeched, leeching)

«leech» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A small worm that lives in water or wet places and sucks blood from animals and people. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#m1)
2. (informal, rude) A person who uses other people to get money or help and gives nothing back. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#m2)
3. (verb) To slowly take something away from someone or something: the cold leeched the warmth from his hands. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#m3)
4. (verb, informal) To use others for your own gain: he leeches off his friends. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#m4)
5. In old stories, a leech was another name for a doctor. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#m5)

### In the lessons

In science, leeches are animals with soft bodies and suckers, found in ponds and rainforests; doctors long ago used them to take blood, and some still use them today for special treatments. In everyday talk calling someone a «leech» is an insult meaning they sponge off others. Phrases: leech off someone, cling like a leech.

### Examples

- A leech stuck to my leg when I walked through the swamp. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x1)
- Leeches have suckers at both ends of their bodies. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x2)
- Do not pull a leech off hard; ask an adult to help. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x3)
- He is such a leech, always asking to borrow money. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x4)
- Stop leeching off your brother and buy your own snacks. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x5)
- Some hospitals still use leeches to help wounds heal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x6)
- The damp leeched the colour out of the old poster. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x7)
- She clung to me like a leech all day. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x8)
- His master, sending for a leech, asked his advice. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/#x9)

### Note

Plural: leeches (add -es after ch). Do not confuse with «leach» (when liquid washes chemicals out of soil), which sounds the same (homophone). A leech is not an insect; it is a kind of worm.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «leech» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/leech/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«leech» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/leech.html) on Mova free.