Leak definitions

lēk
An accidental hole or crack that lets something out or in.
noun
97
1
Any means of escape for something that ought not to be let out, lost, etc.
noun
94
0
The fact of leaking; leakage.
noun
91
0
A disclosure of secret or confidential information; specif., an ostensibly accidental disclosure by a government official to the news media, actually intended to produce an effect.
noun
88
0
The act of urinating.
noun
85
2
To let a fluid substance out or in accidentally.

The kettle leaks; the boat leaks.

verb
82
0
To enter, or escape accidentally from, an object or container.
verb
79
1
To become known little by little, by accident, carelessness, or treachery.

The truth leaked out.

verb
76
1
A crack or flaw that permits something to escape from or enter a container or conduit.

Fixed the leak in the roof.

noun
74
0
To permit (water, air, light, radiation, etc.) to pass accidentally in or out; allow to leak.
verb
73
1
An unauthorized or a deliberate disclosure of confidential information.
noun
71
0
To allow (secret or confidential information) to become known.
verb
70
1
To permit the escape, entry, or passage of something through a breach or flaw.

Rusted pipes that were beginning to leak; a boat leaking at the seams.

verb
68
1
To escape or pass through a breach or flaw.

Helium leaking slowly from the balloon.

verb
65
2
To become publicly known through a breach of secrecy.

The news has leaked.

verb
62
2
To permit (a substance) to escape or pass through a breach or flaw.

A damaged reactor leaking radioactivity into the atmosphere.

verb
59
1
To disclose without authorization or official sanction.

Leaked classified information to a reporter.

verb
56
1
The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture.

The leak gained on the ship's pumps.

noun
6
0
(obsolete) Leaky.
adjective
6
0
Leak is defined as to let out or get out by mistake or on purpose.

An example of to leak is juice coming out of a crack in a plastic jug.

An example of to leak is private information being released to the media.

verb
6
0
A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.

A leak in a roof.

A leak in a boat.

A leak in a gas pipe.

noun
3
0
A divulgation, or disclosure, of information held secret until then.

The leaks by Chelsea Manning showed the secrets of the US military.

noun
3
0
The act or instance of leaking.
noun
0
0
An amount leaked.

Equipment used in cleaning up oil leaks.

noun
0
0
Loss of electric current as a result of faulty insulation.
noun
0
0
The path or place at which this loss takes place.
noun
0
0
A loss of electrical current through faulty insulation.
noun
0
0
The point or path where this occurs.
noun
0
0
The person through whom such divulgation, or disclosure, occurred.

The press must have learned about the plan through a leak.

noun
0
0
(computing) The gradual loss of a system resource caused by failure to deallocate previously reserved portions.

Resource leak.

Memory leak.

noun
0
0
(vulgar, slang, especially with the verb "take") An act of urination.

I have to take a leak.

noun
0
0
To allow fluid to escape or enter something that should be sealed.

The faucet has been leaking since last month.

verb
0
0
To reveal secret information.

Someone must have leaked it to our competitors that the new product will be out soon.

verb
0
0

Origin of leak

From Middle English leken (“to let water in or out"), from Middle Dutch leken (“to leak, drip") or Old Norse leka (“to leak, drip"); both from Proto-Germanic *lekanÄ… (“to leak, drain"), from Proto-Indo-European *leg-, *leǵ- (“to leak"). Cognate with Dutch lekken (“to leak"), German lechen, lecken (“to leak"), Swedish läcka (“to leak"), Icelandic leka (“to leak"). Related also to Old English leÄ‹Ä‹an (“to water, wet"), Albanian lag, lak (“I damp, make wet"). See also leach, lake.