leech

leech

leech¹ [lēch]

n.

[ME leche < OE læce, akin to OHG lāhhi, Goth lēkeis, magician, healer, OE lacnian, to heal, prob. < IE base * leg̑-, collect, gather together > L lex (see LEGAL); LEECH¹ sense 2 is supposedly same word (from use in medicine), but OE (Kentish) lyce, ME liche, MDu lieke suggest different word assimilated by folk etym.]

1. Archaic a physician

2. any of a subclass (Hirudinea) of mostly flattened, annelid worms living in water or wet earth and having a well-developed sucker at each end: most are bloodsuckers, and one species (Hirudo medicinalis) has been used in medicine, esp. in former times, to bleed patients

3. a person who clings to another to gain some personal advantage; parasite

vt.

1. Obs. to heal

2. to apply leeches to; bleed with leeches

3. to cling to (another) as a parasite; drain dry

vi.

to act as a parasite: often with onto

leech² [lēch]

n.

[LME lyche, akin to ON lik < Du lijk, boltrope < IE base * leig̑-, to bind, fasten > L ligare, to tie]

1. the after edge of a fore-and-aft sail

2. either of the vertical edges of a square sail