'Leech' definitions:
Definition of 'leech'
From: WordNet
noun
Carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms typically having a sucker at each end [syn: leech, bloodsucker, hirudinean]
noun
A follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage [syn: leech, parasite, sponge, sponger]
verb
Draw blood; "In the old days, doctors routinely bled patients as part of the treatment" [syn: bleed, leech, phlebotomize, phlebotomise]
Definition of 'Leech'
From: GCIDE
Definition of 'Leech'
From: GCIDE
- Leech \Leech\, n. [OE. leche, l[ae]che, physician, AS. l[=ae]ce; akin to Fries. l[=e]tza, OHG. l[=a]hh[imac], Icel. l[ae]knari, Sw. l[aum]kare, Dan. l[ae]ge, Goth. l[=e]keis, AS. l[=a]cnian to heal, Sw. l[aum]ka, Dan. l[ae]ge, Icel. l[ae]kna, Goth. l[=e]kin[=o]n.]
- 1. A physician or surgeon; a professor of the art of healing. [Written also leach.] [Archaic] --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
- Leech, heal thyself. --Wyclif (Luke iv. 23).
- 2. (Zool.) Any one of numerous genera and species of annulose worms, belonging to the order Hirudinea, or Bdelloidea, esp. those species used in medicine, as {Hirudo medicinalis} of Europe, and allied species. [1913 Webster]
- Note: In the mouth of bloodsucking leeches are three convergent, serrated jaws, moved by strong muscles. By the motion of these jaws a stellate incision is made in the skin, through which the leech sucks blood till it is gorged, and then drops off. The stomach has large pouches on each side to hold the blood. The common large bloodsucking leech of America ({Macrobdella decora}) is dark olive above, and red below, with black spots. Many kinds of leeches are parasitic on fishes; others feed upon worms and mollusks, and have no jaws for drawing blood. See Bdelloidea. Hirudinea, and Clepsine. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Surg.) A glass tube of peculiar construction, adapted for drawing blood from a scarified part by means of a vacuum. [1913 Webster]
- Horse leech, a less powerful European leech ({H[ae]mopis vorax}), commonly attacking the membrane that lines the inside of the mouth and nostrils of animals that drink at pools where it lives. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Leech'
From: GCIDE
- Leech \Leech\, n. [Cf. LG. leik, Icel. l[imac]k, Sw. lik boltrope, st[*a]ende liken the leeches.] (Naut.) The border or edge at the side of a sail. [Written also leach.] [1913 Webster]
- Leech line, a line attached to the leech ropes of sails, passing up through blocks on the yards, to haul the leeches by. --Totten.
- Leech rope, that part of the boltrope to which the side of a sail is sewed. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'leech'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- adherent,
- adhesive,
- allopath,
- allopathist,
- attending physician,
- barnacle,
- beat,
- bedbug,
- blackmailer,
- bleed,
- bloodsucker,
- boltrope,
- bramble,
- brier,
- bulldog,
- burr,
- canvas,
- cement,
- Chilopoda,
- Chordata,
- clew,
- cloth,
- coroner,
- country doctor,
- cringle,
- croaker,
- crowd of sail,
- cup,
- deadbeat,
- decal,
- decalcomania,
- doc,
- doctor,
- Doctor of Medicine,
- earing,
- Echiuroidea,
- Ectoprocta,
- Entoprocta,
- extortionist,
- family doctor,
- foot,
- fore-and-aft sail,
- freeloader,
- general practitioner,
- give a transfusion,
- glue,
- GP,
- gunk,
- harpy,
- head,
- house physician,
- intern,
- let blood,
- limpet,
- luff,
- MD,
- medical attendant,
- medical examiner,
- medical man,
- medical practitioner,
- medico,
- molasses,
- Monoplacophora,
- mosquito,
- mucilage,
- muslin,
- Nemertinea,
- parasite,
- paste,
- perfuse,
- phlebotomize,
- Phoronidea,
- physician,
- physician in ordinary,
- plain sail,
- plaster,
- predator,
- press of sail,
- prickle,
- profiteer,
- racketeer,
- rag,
- raptor,
- reduced sail,
- reef point,
- reefed sail,
- remora,
- resident,
- resident physician,
- sail,
- sawbones,
- shakedown artist,
- shark,
- smell-feast,
- sponge,
- sponger,
- square sail,
- sticker,
- syrup,
- thorn,
- tick,
- transfuse,
- vampire,
- vulture,
- wood tick