leech
noun/liːtʃ/
/liːtʃ/
- a small worm that usually lives in water and that attaches itself to other creatures and drinks their blood. Leeches were used in the past by doctors to remove blood from sick people.Topics Insects, worms, etc.c2
- (disapproving) a person who depends on somebody else for money, or takes the profit from somebody else’s work
Word OriginOld English lǣce, lȳce; related to Middle Dutch lake, lieke.
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leech