leech
Other forms: leeches; leeching; leeched
A leech is a kind of worm that feeds by sucking blood from other animals. You might find yourself needing to pull a leech off your leg after swimming in a lake.
Because leeches are parasites, it's common for people to use the word as a metaphor for someone who sponges off of other people. If you have a friend who is always borrowing money but never pays it back, and who is known for requesting favors without granting them in return, you can call him a leech. The blood-sucking leech was once commonly used by doctors who treated patients by "bleeding" them, a practice that's still occasionally used in medicine today.
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carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms typically having a sucker at each endsynonyms: bloodsucker, hirudineantypes:horseleechany of several large freshwater leechestype of:annelid, annelid worm, segmented wormworms with cylindrical bodies segmented both internally and externally
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a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage
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draw bloodsynonyms: bleed, phlebotomise, phlebotomize
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Vocabulary lists containing leech
Explore the world of animals with this collection of words that will make you go hog wild! From aardvarks to zebras, it's sure to be more fun than a barrel full of monkeys! Here are links to our lists in the collection: List 1, List 2, List 3, A Vocabulary Bestiary
Two men kidnap a rambunctious nine-year-old boy and attempt to hold him for ransom, but they get more than they bargained for. Read the full text here. Here are links to our lists for other works by O. Henry: A Retrieved Reformation, The Gift of the Magi
Explore the world of animals with this list of words that will make you go hog wild! From aardvarks to zebras, it's sure to be more fun than a barrel full of monkeys!