LEAK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does leak mean? 

• LEAK (noun)
  The noun LEAK has 5 senses:

1. an accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape

2. soft watery rot in fruits and vegetables caused by fungi

3. a euphemism for urination

4. the discharge of a fluid from some container

5. unauthorized (especially deliberate) disclosure of confidential information

  Familiarity information: LEAK used as a noun is common.

• LEAK (verb)
  The verb LEAK has 4 senses:

1. tell anonymously

2. be leaked

3. enter or escape as through a hole or crack or fissure

4. have an opening that allows light or substances to enter or go out

  Familiarity information: LEAK used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEAK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

one of the tires developed a leak

Hypernyms ("leak" is a kind of...):

hole (an opening into or through something)

Derivation:

leak (have an opening that allows light or substances to enter or go out)

leak (enter or escape as through a hole or crack or fissure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Soft watery rot in fruits and vegetables caused by fungi

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("leak" is a kind of...):

soft rot (mushy or slimy decay of plants caused by bacteria or fungi)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A euphemism for urination

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Synonyms:

leak; making water; passing water; wetting

Context example:

he had to take a leak

Hypernyms ("leak" is a kind of...):

micturition; urination (the discharge of urine)

Domain usage:

euphemism (an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh)

Derivation:

leaky (used informally; unable to retain urine)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The discharge of a fluid from some container

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

escape; leak; leakage; outflow

Context example:

he had to clean up the leak

Hypernyms ("leak" is a kind of...):

discharge; outpouring; run (the pouring forth of a fluid)

Derivation:

leak (have an opening that allows light or substances to enter or go out)

leak (enter or escape as through a hole or crack or fissure)

leaky (permitting the unwanted passage of fluids or gases)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Unauthorized (especially deliberate) disclosure of confidential information

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

leak; news leak

Hypernyms ("leak" is a kind of...):

disclosure; revealing; revelation (the speech act of making something evident)

Derivation:

leak (tell anonymously)

leaky (prone to communicate confidential information)

leak (be leaked)

• LEAK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they leak    ... he / she / it leaks   
Past simple: leaked   
Past participle: leaked   
-ing form: leaking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Tell anonymously

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The news were leaked to the paper

Hypernyms (to "leak" is one way to...):

break; bring out; disclose; discover; divulge; expose; give away; let on; let out; reveal; uncover; unwrap (make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret)

Cause:

break; get around; get out (be released or become known; of news)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Derivation:

leak (unauthorized (especially deliberate) disclosure of confidential information)

leaker (a surreptitious informant)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be leaked

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

leak; leak out

Context example:

The news leaked out despite his secrecy

Hypernyms (to "leak" is one way to...):

break; get around; get out (be released or become known; of news)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

leak (unauthorized (especially deliberate) disclosure of confidential information)

leaker (a surreptitious informant)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Enter or escape as through a hole or crack or fissure

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Gas leaked into the basement

Hypernyms (to "leak" is one way to...):

come forth; come out; egress; emerge; go forth; issue (come out of)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

leak (the discharge of a fluid from some container)

leak (an accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape)

leakage (the discharge of a fluid from some container)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Have an opening that allows light or substances to enter or go out

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

the roof leaks badly

"Leak" entails doing...:

break; bust; fall apart; wear; wear out (go to pieces)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "leak"):

bilge; take in water (take in water at the bilge)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

leak; leakage (the discharge of a fluid from some container)

leak (an accidental hole that allows something (fluid or light etc.) to enter or escape)

 Context examples 

Most brain aneurysms produce no symptoms until they become large, begin to leak blood, or burst.

(Brain Aneurysm, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Capillary leak syndrome may lead to multiple organ failure and shock.

(Capillary leak syndrome, NCI Dictionary)

Planetary atmospheres all over the solar system are leaking into space.

(The ice giant Uranus appears to be losing a bit of its atmosphere to space, NASA)

"Plants get more water-efficient and leak less underground soil moisture through their pores in a carbon-rich atmosphere," said study co-author Mike Pritchard of UCI.

(Plant physiology will be major contributor to future river flooding, National Science Foundation)

The results suggested that the dye leaked out of the blood vessels, flowed through the dura and into neighboring lymphatic vessels.

(NIH researchers uncover drain pipes in our brains, National Institutes of Health)

Under normal conditions, lysosomes envelop oxidized proteins and digest them via enzymes called proteases, but in the cold-exposed human neurons, the proteases leaked from the lysosomes and digested nearby microtubules.

(Researchers develop “hibernation in a dish” to study how animals adapt to the cold, National Institutes of Health)

A small bruise caused by blood leaking from broken blood vessels into the tissues of the skin or mucous membranes.

(Ecchymosis, NCI Dictionary)

This allows stomach contents to leak back, or reflux, into the esophagus and irritate it.

(Esophagus Disorders, NIH)

EXAMPLE(S): An imaging device is discovered to be leaking radiation.

(Performed Product Problem Discovery, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

As he spoke the seamen came swarming on to the poop and the forecastle to avoid the torrent which poured through the huge leak into the waist.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)