Library / English Dictionary

LEECH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms typically having a sucker at each end

Synonyms:

bloodsucker; hirudinean; leech

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("leech" is a kind of...):

annelid; annelid worm; segmented worm (worms with cylindrical bodies segmented both internally and externally)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "leech"):

Hirudo medicinalis; medicinal leech (large European freshwater leech formerly used for bloodletting)

horseleech (any of several large freshwater leeches)

Holonyms ("leech" is a member of...):

class Hirudinea; Hirudinea (hermaphroditic aquatic or terrestrial or parasitic annelids)

Derivation:

leech (draw blood)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage

Synonyms:

leech; parasite; sponge; sponger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("leech" is a kind of...):

follower (a person who accepts the leadership of another)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Draw blood

Example:

In the old days, doctors routinely bled patients as part of the treatment

Synonyms:

bleed; leech; phlebotomise; phlebotomize

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "leech" is one way to...):

care for; treat (provide treatment for)

Domain category:

medicine; practice of medicine (the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

leech (carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms typically having a sucker at each end)

Credits