leak
nounverbadjectivecommon in dialogue
- //liːk//
A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
noun
- 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.
[…] so even if he was the leak, we would never know.
I was the leak. That the government didn't like our advice, and so I decided to leak it to 'bounce' them into having to follow it.
If he was the leak, it wasn't intentional. The same went for her mom, not that Cat thought her mom had any friends with top-level security clearance.
- 5
A loss of electricity through imperfect insulation, or the point where it occurs.
- 6
The gradual loss of a system resource caused by failure to deallocate previously reserved portions.
resource leak
memory leak
- 7
slangAn act of urination.
I have to take a leak.
Etymology
From Middle English leken (“to let water in or out”), from Old English *lecan (“to leak”), Middle Dutch leken (“to leak, drip”) or Old Norse leka (“to leak, drip”); all from Proto-Germanic *lekaną (“to leak, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to leak”). Cognate with Dutch lekken (“to leak”), German lechen, lecken (“to leak”), Danish lække (“to leak”), Swedish läcka (“to leak”), Norwegian Bokmål lekke (“to leak”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Norwegian Nynorsk leka (“to leak”). Related also to Old English leċċan (“to water, wet”), Albanian lag, lak (“to damp, make wet”). See also leach, lake. (divulgation, disclosure of information): Compare typologically Bulgarian изтичане (iztičane), Polish przeciek, Russian уте́чка (utéčka) (akin to течь impf or f (tečʹ)).
verb
- 1
To allow fluid or gas to pass through an opening that should be sealed.
The wells are believed to have been leaking oil for decades, long after the operating company ceased to exist.
- 2
(of a fluid or gas) To pass through an opening that should be sealed.
The faucet has been leaking since last month.
No one realized that propane gas was leaking from a rusty tank in the concession area, slowly filling the unventilated room.
- 3
To disclose secret information surreptitiously or anonymously.
Someone must have leaked it to our competitors that the new product will be out soon.
That's another of those irregular verbs, isn't it? I give confidential press briefings; you leak; he's being charged under section 2(A) of the Official Secrets Act.
- 4
figurativeTo pass through when it would normally or preferably be blocked.
A target that is not detected would not be intercepted and thus would leak through the single defensive layer.
- 5
figurativeTo allow anything through that would normally or preferably be blocked.
England were leaking penalties as Scotland played with pace and variety. Russell was starting to find his range and when he threaded through a grubber to Sean Maitland the winger did well to gather and keep the ball in play. Unfortunately, his pass inside just eluded Russell.
- 6
slangTo emit bodily fluids: To urinate.
I had to leak in the woods since there were no toilets around.
Why, you will allow vs ne're a Iourden, and then we leake in your Chimney: and your Chamber-lye breeds Fleas like a Loach.
Occasionally bums passed, Mexican mothers passed with children, and the prowl car came by and the cop got out to leak, but most of the time we were alone and mixing up our souls ever more and ever more till it would be terribly hard to say good-by.
Go and find a tree. I just leak against a^([sic]) oak over there.
- 7
slangTo emit bodily fluids: To bleed.
He shanked him, now he's leaking.
- 8
slangTo emit bodily fluids: To ejaculate.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteLeaky.
Yet is the bottle leake, and bag so torne, / That all which I put in fals out anon […].
Forms
- plural
- leaks
- comparative
- more leak
- superlative
- most leak
- past tense
- leaked
- past participle
- leaked
- present participle
- leaking
- third person singular
- leaks
leak · A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
Leak · A surname.leaked · Of a document, etc, produced by a company or organization,…leaking · The act by which something leaks.