Meaning & use
leach
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Meaning
verbtransitive or intransitivetechnical
To remove or drain a dissolved substance from soil, rock, ash, or another solid by liquid passing through it.
Grammar: Transitive: rainwater leaches minerals from soil; intransitive: nitrates leach into wells.
Patterns
- leach something from something
- leach into water
- leach out of soil
Acid rain can leach calcium from forest soils.
Nitrates leached into the well after the heavy storm.
Washing the ore leached out the remaining copper salts.
Word forms
| third person singular | leaches |
|---|---|
| past tense | leached |
| past participle | leached |
| -ing form | leaching |
Common combinations
- leach into groundwater
- Old fuel tanks may leach chemicals into groundwater.
- leach nutrients from soil
- Over-irrigation can leach nutrients from soil faster than roots can absorb them.
- leach out of rock
- Minerals slowly leach out of rock when snowmelt seeps through cracks.
- leach away
- Without compost, sandy beds leach away fertilizer after every rain.
Synonyms and how they differ
- extract
- Extract is general and often deliberate; leach specifically involves liquid passing through a material.
- percolate
- Percolate describes liquid filtering through; it does not by itself mean removing a substance.
- filter
- Filter separates solids from fluid; leach concerns dissolving and carrying substances away.
Word family
- leaching noun
- The process by which substances are removed by percolating liquid.
- leachate noun
- Liquid that has dissolved contaminants while passing through waste or soil.
Commonly confused: leach or leech?
leach vs leech
Leech sounds similar but means a blood-sucking worm or a person who takes from others; leach involves liquids carrying substances.
Practice
Complete the sentence: Limestone allows rainwater to ____ minerals from the rock.
Choose one answer.
Leach means remove by liquid movement; leech is a worm or exploitative person, launch starts something, and latch fastens.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “leach”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.