(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If a container ~s, there is a hole or crack in it which lets a substance such as liquid or gas escape. You can also say that a container ~s a substance such as liquid or gas.
The roof ~ed...
The pool’s fiberglass sides had cracked and the water had ~ed out...
A large diesel tank mysteriously ~ed its contents into the river.
VERB: V, V prep/adv, V n into n, also V n
•
Leak is also a noun.
It’s thought a gas ~ may have caused the blast.
N-COUNT
2.
A ~ is a crack, hole, or other gap that a substance such as a liquid or gas can pass through.
...a ~ in the radiator...
In May engineers found a ~ in a hydrogen fuel line.
N-COUNT: oft N in n
3.
If a secret document or piece of information ~s or is ~ed, someone lets the public know about it.
Last year, a civil servant was imprisoned for ~ing a document to the press...
He revealed who ~ed a confidential police report...
We don’t know how the transcript ~ed.
...a ~ed report.
VERB: V n to n, V n, V, V-ed
•
Leak is also a noun.
More serious ~s, possibly involving national security, are likely to be investigated by the police.
N-COUNT
•
Leak out means the same as ~ .
More details are now beginning to ~ out...
He said it would ~ out to the newspapers and cause a scandal.
PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P to n