leech

Meaning

Noun

1. An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
2. A person who derives profit from others in a parasitic fashion.
3. A glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.

Verb

1. To apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.
2. To drain (resources) without giving back.

Verb

To treat, cure or heal.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/liːt͡ʃ/

Etymology

From Middle English leche (“blood-sucking worm”), from Old English lǣċe (“blood-sucking worm”), akin to Middle Dutch lāke ("blood-sucking worm"; > modern Dutch laak).