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Glite Dictionary
to take a leak

to take a leak

41 9.3
To pee or pass urine from your body
  • phrasal verb
  • NSFW
: mearse
  • I need to take a leak before we continue our hike.
  • gotta take a leak
  • go take a leak
  • need to take a leak

Examples

Synonyms

to pee
vsto take a leak
  • Informal
448 2.6

To let out the body's yellow liquid

is similarly informal but slangier in tone
to piss
vsto take a leak
  • Offensive
175 8.3

To pass urine in rude speech

is casual and informal rather than intentionally offensive
to urinate
vsto take a leak
64 3.3

To pass urine

is everyday informal language rather than formal medical speech
to take a piss
vsto take a leak
  • Offensive
51 9.9

To pee in a rude way

is informal speech but less crude in tone
to pee-pee
vsto take a leak
  • Baby Talk
39 8.1

To pass urine from the body, often said to children

is adult slang used among friends rather than child language
to wee-wee
vsto take a leak
  • Baby Talk
10 9.7

To pee when you need to go to the toilet

is adult informal language not meant for child talk
to wee
vsto take a leak
  • UK
3 9.5

To pee when you need the toilet

is more slangy and rough in everyday use
to piddle
vsto take a leak
  • Baby Talk
2 9.2

To pee, often used about children or animals

is general slang mostly used by adults in casual speech
to make water
vsto take a leak
  • NSFW
1 9.1

To pass urine from the body

is modern casual slang rather than old polite wording
to pass water
vsto take a leak
  • UK
1 7.6

To let urine come out of your body

is more casual and slangy than polite neutral wording
to micturate
vsto take a leak
  • Specialized
1 9.9

To pass urine from the body

is common colloquial speech not technical or scientific
to spend a penny
vsto take a leak
  • Archaic
1 9.9

To go to the toilet to pee

is American-style informal slang naming the action directly
to relieve oneself
vsto take a leak
  • Formal
1 7.5

To pee or poo, usually in a toilet

refers specifically to the single informal action, not both needs
passing water
vsto take a leak
  • UK
8.2

To let out urine from the body

is rougher, less euphemistic and more colloquial
making water
vsto take a leak
  • Archaic
9.9

An act of peeing to empty your bladder

is contemporary slang with a direct tone

How Formal

to urinate
64 3.3
to pass water
  • UK
1 7.6
to pee
  • Informal
448 2.6
to take a leak
  • NSFW
41 9.3
piss
  • Offensive
69 8.4

Surface Forms

take a leak infinitive

Morphology

take + a + leak

The noun 'leak' denotes an escape of liquid, so combined with 'take' the phrase is a metaphorical way to describe liquid leaving the body and thus can suggest urinating. However, this is informal/slang and a metaphorical extension rather than a fully compositional meaning, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal senses may not reliably infer 'to urinate'.

Etymology

Take a leak may come from the plain image of a small liquid escape: the word leak suggests a tiny flow from the body, and take here means to allow that flow. So the phrase came to mean 'to urinate'.