to take a leak
41
9.3
- 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
-
Just let me take a leak first.
-
I'm gonna take a leak.
-
Yeah, and I remember we set up camp and then you went to take a leak and never came back.
-
- Do you have to take a leak or not?
-
I got to take a leak.
-
I need to take a leak first.
-
I gotta take a leak.
-
- I had to take a leak.
-
He has to take a leak.
-
- He's taking a leak.
Synonyms
947
8.3
To pass urine in rude speech
371
2.6
To let out the body's yellow liquid
69
3.3
To pass urine
52
9.9
To pee in a rude way
11
7.5
To pee or poo, usually in a toilet
5
9.5
To pee when you need the toilet
4
9.7
To pee when you need to go to the toilet
2
8.1
To pass urine from the body, often said to children
1
9.2
To pee, often used about children or animals
1
9.1
To pass urine from the body
1
9.9
To go to the toilet to pee
To pass urine from the body
To let urine come out of your body
To let out urine from the body
An act of peeing to empty your bladder
How Formal
69
3.3
- UK
- Informal
371
2.6
- NSFW
41
9.3
- Offensive
81
8.4
Surface Forms
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'.