leech
9 definitions found
leech - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :
Leech \Leech\ (l[=e]ch), n.
See 2d Leach.
[1913 Webster]
Leech \Leech\, v. t.
See Leach, v. t.
[1913 Webster]
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]
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]
Leech \Leech\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Leeched (l[=e]cht); p. pr.
& vb. n. Leeching.]
1. To treat as a surgeon; to doctor; as, to leech wounds.
[Archaic]
[1913 Webster]
2. To bleed by the use of leeches.
[1913 Webster]
leech - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :
leech
n 1: carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms
typically having a sucker at each end [syn: leech,
bloodsucker, hirudinean]
2: a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the
host) in hope of gain or advantage [syn: leech, parasite,
sponge, sponger]
v 1: draw blood; "In the old days, doctors routinely bled
patients as part of the treatment" [syn: bleed, leech,
phlebotomize, phlebotomise]
leech - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :
leech
<networking> Someone who downloads files but provides
nothing for others to download. The term is common on
BitTorrent, which relies on having multiple sources for
files to improve download speed.
(2007-03-27)
leech - Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) :
leech
1. n. (Also leecher.) Among BBS types, crackers and warez d00dz,
one
who consumes knowledge without generating new software, cracks, or
techniques. BBS culture specifically defines a leech as someone who
downloads files with few or no uploads in return, and who does not
contribute to the message section. Cracker culture extends this
definition to someone (a lamer, usually) who constantly presses
informed sources for information and/or assistance, but has nothing
to
contribute. See troughie.
2. v. [common, Toronto area] v. To download a file across any kind of
internet link. "Hop on IRC later so I can leech some MP3s from you."
Used to describe activities ranging from FTP, to IRC DCC-send, to ICQ
file requests, to Napster searches (but never to downloading email
with file attachments; the implication is that the download is the
result of a browse or search of some sort of file server). Seems to
be
a holdover from the early 1990s when Toronto had a very active BBS
and
warez scene. Synonymous with snarf (sense 2), and contrast snarf
(sense 4).
leech - Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 :
105 Moby Thesaurus words for "leech":
Chilopoda, Chordata, Doctor of Medicine, Echiuroidea, Ectoprocta,
Entoprocta, GP, MD, Monoplacophora, Nemertinea, Phoronidea,
adherent, adhesive, allopath, allopathist, attending physician,
barnacle, beat, bedbug, blackmailer, bleed, bloodsucker, boltrope,
bramble, brier, bulldog, burr, canvas, cement, clew, cloth,
coroner, country doctor, cringle, croaker, crowd of sail, cup,
deadbeat, decal, decalcomania, doc, doctor, earing, extortionist,
family doctor, foot, fore-and-aft sail, freeloader,
general practitioner, give a transfusion, glue, gunk, harpy, head,
house physician, intern, let blood, limpet, luff,
medical attendant, medical examiner, medical man,
medical practitioner, medico, molasses, mosquito, mucilage, muslin,
parasite, paste, perfuse, phlebotomize, 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
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