leech 1
— leechlike , adj.
/leech/ , n.
1. any bloodsucking or carnivorous aquatic or terrestrial worm of the class Hirudinea, certain freshwater species of which were formerly much used in medicine for bloodletting.
2. a person who clings to another for personal gain, esp. without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other's resources; parasite.
3. Archaic. an instrument used for drawing blood.
v.t.
4. to apply leeches to, so as to bleed.
5. to cling to and feed upon or drain, as a leech: His relatives leeched him until his entire fortune was exhausted.
6. Archaic. to cure; heal.
v.i.
7. to hang on to a person in the manner of a leech: She leeched on to him for dear life.
[ bef. 900; ME leche, OE laece; r. (by confusion with LEECH 2 ) ME liche, OE lyce; c. MD lieke; akin to OE lucan to pull out, MHG liechen to pull ]
Syn. 2. bloodsucker; extortioner; sponger.
leech 2
/leech/ , n. Archaic.
a physician.
[ bef. 1150; ME leche, OE laece; c. OS laki, OHG lahhi, Goth lekeis; akin to ON laeknir ]
leech 3
/leech/ , n. Naut.
1. either of the lateral edges of a square sail.
2. the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail. See diag. under sail .
Also, leach .
[ 1480-90; earlier lek, leche, lyche; akin to D lijk leech, ON lik nautical term of uncert. meaning ]