What does "leak" mean?
A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
Leak
/liːk/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
- Grammar: leak is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: escape, leakage, outflow, abysm.
- Useful contrasts: blotting, calk, calkin.
- Usage evidence: The rain was dripping through a leak in the roof.
How to use "leak"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "leak" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "leak" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "leak" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "leak" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "leak" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "escape" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "leak", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A crack, crevice, fissure, or hole which admits water or other fluid, or lets it escape.
"a leak in a roof"
- 2 unauthorized (especially deliberate) disclosure of confidential information wordnet
- 3 The entrance or escape of a fluid through a crack, fissure, or other aperture.
"The leak gained on the ship's pumps."
- 4 the discharge of a fluid from some container wordnet
- 5 A divulgation, or disclosure, of information previously held secret.
"The leaks by Chelsea Manning showed the secrets of the US military."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 an accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape wordnet
- 7 The person through whom such divulgation, or disclosure, occurs.
"[…] so even if he was the leak, we would never know."
- 8 a euphemism for urination wordnet
- 9 A loss of electricity through imperfect insulation, or the point where it occurs.
- 10 soft watery rot in fruits and vegetables caused by fungi wordnet
- 11 The gradual loss of a system resource caused by failure to deallocate previously reserved portions.
"resource leak"
- 12 An act of urination. especially, mildly, slang, vulgar
"I have to take a leak."
Verb
- 1 To allow fluid or gas to pass through an opening that should be sealed. transitive
"The wells are believed to have been leaking oil for decades, long after the operating company ceased to exist."
- 2 have an opening that allows light or substances to enter or go out wordnet
- 3 (of a fluid or gas) To pass through an opening that should be sealed. intransitive
"The faucet has been leaking since last month."
- 4 enter or escape as through a hole or crack or fissure wordnet
- 5 To disclose secret information surreptitiously or anonymously. ambitransitive
"Someone must have leaked it to our competitors that the new product will be out soon."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 be leaked wordnet
- 7 To pass through when it would normally or preferably be blocked. broadly, figuratively, intransitive
"A target that is not detected would not be intercepted and thus would leak through the single defensive layer."
- 8 tell anonymously wordnet
- 9 To allow anything through that would normally or preferably be blocked. broadly, figuratively, transitive
"England were leaking penalties as Scotland played with pace and variety. Russell was starting to find his range and when he threaded through a grubber to Sean Maitland the winger did well to gather and keep the ball in play. Unfortunately, his pass inside just eluded Russell."
- 10 To urinate. euphemistic, slang, sometimes
"I had to leak in the woods since there were no toilets around."
- 11 To bleed. US, slang
"He shanked him, now he's leaking."
Adjective
- 1 Leaky. obsolete
"Yet is the bottle leake, and bag so torne, / That all which I put in fals out anon […]."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"The rain was dripping through a leak in the roof."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "leak"?
Common synonyms include: escape, leakage, outflow, abysm, abyss, aperture.
How do you use "leak" in a sentence?
The rain was dripping through a leak in the roof.
How do you pronounce "leak"?
Pronounced /liːk/.
Etymology
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-, *leǵ- (“to leak”). Cognate with Dutch lekken (“to leak”), German lechen, lecken (“to leak”), Danish lække (“to leak”), Swedish läcka (“to leak”), Icelandic leka (“to leak”). Related also to Old English leċċan (“to water, wet”), Albanian lag, lak (“I damp, make wet”). See also leach, lake. (divulgation, disclosure of information): Compare typologically Bulgarian изтичане (iztičane), Polish przeciek, Russian уте́чка (utéčka) (akin to течь impf or f (tečʹ)).