leach

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see also: Leach

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Pronunciation

• (British, America) enPR: lēch, IPA: /liːtʃ/

Noun

leach (plural leaches)

1. A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
2. A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.
   • 1894, Robert Barr, In the Midst of Alarms, ch. 7:

     "This is the leach," said Kitty, pointing to a large, yellowish, upright wooden cylinder, which rested on some slanting boards, down the surface of which ran a brownish liquid that dripped into a trough.

3. (nautical) Alternative spelling of leech.
4. A jelly-like sweetmeat popular in the fifteenth century.
   • 1670 Hannah Woolley The Queen-like Closet, Or, Rich Cabinet "To make Leach and to colour it"

Verb

leach (leaches, present participle leaching; past leached, past participle leached)

1. (transitive) To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.

   Heavy rainfall can leach out minerals important for plant growth from the soil.

2. (intransitive) To part with soluble constituents by percolation.

Translations

• French: lessiver
• German: auswaschen, auslaugen
• Italian: drenare, purgare, filtrare, percolare
• Portuguese: lixiviar
• Russian: вымывать
• Spanish: lixiviar

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Leach

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Proper noun

1. Surname

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