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leak

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

leek
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈlik

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.

  2. The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture.

  3. A divulgation, or disclosure, of information previously held secret.

  4. Unauthorized (especially deliberate) disclosure of confidential information

  5. A loss of electricity through imperfect insulation, or the point where it occurs.

  6. A euphemism for urination

    “He had to take a leak.”

verb

  1. transitive

    To allow fluid or gas to pass through an opening that should be sealed.

  2. intransitivefigurativeby extension

    To pass through when it would normally or preferably be blocked.

  3. transitivefigurativeby extension

    To allow anything through that would normally or preferably be blocked.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A divulgation, or disclosure, of information previously held secret.

Used this way, leak is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use leak

  • “He had to take a leak.”noun
  • “One of the tires developed a leak.”noun
  • “The news were leaked to the paper.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Crack / entrance

leak detectoroil leak

Other combinations

air leakleak detectionleak ratesmall leakgrid leakheat leak

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • leakyadjectiveDerived adjective

    Permitting the unwanted passage of fluids or gases.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • leak outverbCompound term

    Be leaked.

  • leak fungusnounCompound term

    Fungus causing soft watery rot in fruits and vegetables and rings of dry rot around roots of sweet potatoes.

  • news leaknounCompound term

    Unauthorized (especially deliberate) disclosure of confidential information.

  • take a leakverbCompound term

    Eliminate urine.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.