transitive verb
- to cause (a liquid) to filter down through some material
- to subject to the washing action of a filtering liquid: wood ashes are leached to extract lye
- to extract (a soluble substance) from some material by causing water to filter down through the material: lye is leached from wood ashes
Origin:
prob. < OE leccan, to water, irrigate, orig. a caus. form of base akin to ON leka: see leak