leech Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms typically having a sucker at each end
    bloodsucker; hirudinean.
  2. noun a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage
    sponge; sponger; parasite.
  3. verb draw blood
    phlebotomise; phlebotomize; bleed.
    • In the old days, doctors routinely bled patients as part of the treatment

WordNet

Leech noun
Definitions
  1. See 2d Leach.
Leech transitive verb
Definitions
  1. See Leach, v. t.
Leech noun
Etymology
Cf. LG. leik, Icel. lik, Sw. lik boltrope, stende liken the leeches.
Definitions
  1. (Naut.) The border or edge at the side of a sail. Written also leach.
Leech noun
Etymology
OE. leche, læche, physician, AS. lce; akin to Fries. ltza, OHG. lahhi, Icel. læknari, Sw. läkare, Dan. læge, Goth. lkeis, AS. lacnian to heal, Sw. läka, Dan.læge, Icel. lækna, Goth. lkinn.
Definitions
  1. physician or surgeon; a professor of the art of healing. Written also leach. Archaic Spenser.
    Leech, heal thyself. Wyclif (Luke iv. 23).
  2. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous genera and species of annulose worms, belonging to the order Hirudinea, or Bdelloidea, esp. those species used in medicine, as Hirudo medicinalis of Europe, and allied species. ✍ In the mouth of bloodsucking leeches are three convergent, serrated jaws, moved by strong muscles. By the motion of these jaws a stellate incision is made in the skin, through which the leech sucks blood till it is gorged, and then drops off. The stomach has large pouches on each side to hold the blood. The common large bloodsucking leech of America (Macrobdella decora) is dark olive above, and red below, with black spots. Many kinds of leeches are parasitic on fishes; others feed upon worms and mollusks, and have no jaws for drawing blood. See Bdelloidea. Hirudinea, and Clepsine.
  3. (Surg.) A glass tube of peculiar construction, adapted for drawing blood from a scarified part by means of a vacuum.
Leech transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Leeched ; present participle & verbal noun Leeching
Definitions
  1. To treat as a surgeon; to doctor; as, to leech wounds. Archaic
  2. To bleed by the use of leeches.

Webster 1913