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🤑 A user 🤑 To take advantage 🪱 A bloodsucking worm 🩸 To draw blood
to leech

to leech

2 9.6
To let a bloodsucking worm attach to a person to take blood for medical treatment
  • verb
  • /liːtʃ/
  • Archaic
translation icon : sangrar
  • And that's leeched directly into the cerebral spinal fluid.

Examples

  • So you, you stick leeches on you and the blood leeches suck out the blood.

  • What we do is we Leech bodies and that's how you cure diseases.

  • Now, leech it out.

    Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)

  • If digestive health is weak, your body may actually leech essential minerals from bone tissue in order to aid the digestive process—a major contributing factor to osteoporosis.

    Blog text (8)

  • In the 19th century, doctors would often leech patients to treat various ailments.

  • Before the invention of modern medicine, some physicians would leech their patients as a common practice.

  • The ancient method involved using leeches to leech a person's blood to supposedly restore their health.

Synonyms

to draw blood
vsto leech
  • Offensive
38 4.6

To take blood for testing or to cause harm in an argument

uses attached animals to remove fluid from a person, mainly for past treatments
to blood
vsto leech
  • Specialized
8 5.9

To take the red liquid from someone's body for tests or donation

uses attached animals to remove fluid from a person in older medical practice
to phlebotomize
vsto leech
  • Specialized
9.9

To take blood from a vein for medical tests

uses attached animals to remove fluid from a person historically rather than vein withdrawal

Idioms

like a leech
  • Offensive
1 8.3

Asking people for money and help without giving anything back

Phrasal Verbs

to leech off
  • Offensive
4 7.9

To take money, food, or help from someone without giving anything back

to leech onto
  • Offensive
8.4

To stay near someone and take advantage of them

Compounds

medicinal leech
  • UK
6.9

A large freshwater worm that doctors used to take blood from patients

Surface Forms

leech infinitive
leeched past
leeched past participle
leeching present participle
leeches third person singular

Etymology

Leech as a verb meaning 'to draw blood' comes from the animal leech, since doctors long ago put leeches on patients to remove blood. So to leech a patient meant to use the worms in treatment.