Added 9 October 2026
leak
/liːk/ noun
In Latin: pereo Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about leak at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
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A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
a leak in a roof
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The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture.
The leak gained on the ship's pumps.
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A divulgation, or disclosure, of information previously held secret.
The leaks by Chelsea Manning showed the secrets of the US military.
verb
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To allow fluid or gas to pass through an opening that should be sealed.
The wells are believed to have been leaking oil for decades, long after the operating company ceased to exist.
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To disclose secret information surreptitiously or anonymously.
Someone must have leaked it to our competitors that the new product will be out soon.
- To pass through when it would normally or preferably be blocked.
Origin
From Middle English leken (“to let water in or out”), from Old English *lecan (“to leak”), Middle Dutch leken (“to leak, drip”) or Old Norse leka (“to leak, drip”); all from Proto-Germanic *lekaną (“to leak, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to leak”). Cognate with Dutch lekken (“to leak”), German lechen, lecken (“to leak”), Danish lække (“to leak”), Swedish läcka (“to leak”), Norwegian Bokmål lekke (“to leak”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Norwegian Nynorsk leka (“to leak”). Related also to Old English leċċan (“to water, wet”), Albanian lag, lak (“to damp, make wet”). See also leach, lake.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)