leech

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“
In the old days the leech was a physician.

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Definitions (25)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (8)

  1. noun Any of various chiefly aquatic bloodsucking or carnivorous annelid worms of the class Hirudinea, of which one species (Hirudo medicinalis) was formerly used by physicians to bleed patients and is now sometimes used as a temporary aid to circulation during surgical reattachment of a body part.
  2. noun One that preys on or clings to another; a parasite.
  3. noun Archaic A physician.
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Examples (47)

  • (For those not aware, free-leech is when torrents do not count towards your download ratio on the site) —  Mininova
  • Jacob is more like a leech, he's poison, he's vindictive, he tore Bella up and now Edward has to spend eternity knowing her heart hurts for Jacob, that it's torn. —  Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch
  • Several have tell-tale blood spots on their legs, and one has a leech which is still attached. —  TravelPod.com Recent Updates
  • Detective Insp. Mick Johnston, who was involved in the police investigation from the outset, said the leech was the only forensic evidence found at the crime scene. —  Statesman - AP Sports
  • Detective Insp Mick Johnston, who was involved in the police investigation from the outset, said the leech was the only forensic evidence found at the crime scene.
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

snail ·  spider ·  earthworm ·  vermin ·  cockroach ·  mosquito ·  frog ·  beetle ·  slug ·  parasite ·  grasshopper ·  grub

Used in the same contextWord Family

leech:   leeches
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English leche, physician, leech, from Old English lǣce; see leg- in Indo-European roots.
  2. Middle English leche, probably from Middle Low German līk, leech line; see leig- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. Also leach; from Middle English leeche, leche, from Anglo-Saxon lǣce (rarely, and irreg., lǣca) (= OFries. leka, letza, leischa = Old High German lāhhi, lāchi = Danish læge = Gothic (Moesogothic) lēkeis), a physician (cf. Icelandic læknir, Swedish läkare, a physician, from the associated verbs); perhaps from Anglo-Saxon lāc, a medicine, literally ‘something given’ (cf, dose, of same sense), a particular use of lāc, a gift, present, offering, sacrifice, also a battle, struggle, from lācan, play, dance (see lake); but lāc, a medicine, may be of different origin. Cf. Irish liaig, a physician, Old Bulgarian lekŭ, medicine, lekarĭ, a physician, etc. In another view, not at all probable, the word lǣce is supposed to have been orig. associated directly with the notion of ‘dancing,’ with reference to the magical formulas of primitive leechcraft. Hence leech, n.
  2. from Middle English leechen, lechen = Danish læge = Swedish läka, heal; also, with formative -n, Middle English lechnien, from Anglo-Saxon lācnian, lǣcnan = Icelandic lǣkna = Gothic (Moesogothic) leikinōn, heal; from the noun, Anglo-Saxon lǣce, etc., a physician: see leech, n.
  3. from Middle English leche, from Anglo-Saxon lǣce (= Middle Dutch laecke), a leech (the worm so named), a particular use (not found in other languages) of leech, with reference to the medicinal value of these worms: see leech.
  4. from leech, n.
  5. Also leach; not found in Middle English; from Icelandic līk, a leech-line, = Danish lig = Swedish lik, a bolt-rope, = Middle Dutch lyken, a bolt-rope; further origin obscure.
 

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