leak
Americannoun
-
an unintended hole, crack, or the like, through which liquid, gas, light, etc., enters or escapes.
a leak in the roof.
-
an act or instance of leaking.
-
any means of unintended entrance or escape.
-
Electricity. the loss of current from a conductor, usually resulting from poor insulation.
-
a disclosure of secret, especially official, information, as to the news media, by an unnamed source.
verb (used without object)
-
to let a liquid, gas, light, etc., enter or escape, as through an unintended hole or crack.
The boat leaks.
-
to pass in or out in this manner, as liquid, gas, or light.
gas leaking from a pipe.
-
to become known unintentionally (usually followed byout ).
The news leaked out.
-
to disclose secret, especially official, information anonymously, as to the news media.
The official revealed that he had leaked to the press in the hope of saving his own reputation.
verb (used with object)
-
to let (liquid, gas, light, etc.) enter or escape.
This camera leaks light.
-
to allow to become known, as information given out covertly.
to leak the news of the ambassador's visit.
idioms
noun
-
-
a crack, hole, etc, that allows the accidental escape or entrance of fluid, light, etc
-
such escaping or entering fluid, light, etc
-
-
to develop a leak
-
something resembling this in effect
a leak in the defence system
-
the loss of current from an electrical conductor because of faulty insulation, etc
-
a disclosure, often intentional, of secret information
-
the act or an instance of leaking
-
a slang word for urination See urination
verb
-
to enter or escape or allow to enter or escape through a crack, hole, etc
-
to disclose (secret information), often intentionally, or (of secret information) to be disclosed
-
(intr) a slang word for urinate
Other Word Forms
- leaker noun
- leakless adjective
- nonleaking adjective
Etymology
Origin of leak
1375–1425; 1955–60 leak for def. 11; late Middle English leken < Old Norse leka to drip, leak; akin to Dutch lek, obsolete German lech leaky. See leach 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Treating one while ignoring the other is a bit like bailing water out of a boat without fixing the leak."
From Science Daily
If there is a leak, he needs to find it.
From MarketWatch
Congressional depositions normally occur behind closed doors, though the Clintons had fought for their testimony to be public so that selective portions of their answers could not be leaked to the media without context.
From BBC
On a bruising day, Zimbabwe's four pace bowlers leaked 3-197 from 14 overs.
From BBC
After her building sprung a leak she made friends with her upstairs neighbour while trying to find the source.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
