From Middle English leche (“leachate; sluggish stream”), from Old English *lǣċ, *lǣċe (“muddy stream”), from Proto-Germanic *lēkijō (“a leak, drain, flow”)
(compare Proto-Germanic *lekaną (“to leak, drain”)), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to leak”).
Cognate with Old English leċċan (“to water, moisten”), Old English lacu (“stream, pool, pond”). More at leak, lake.
Meanings
A quantity of wood ashes, through which water passes, and thus imbibes the alkali.
A tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.
"This is the leach," said Kitty, pointing to a large, yellowish, upright wooden cylinder, which rested on some slanting boards, down the surface of which ran a brownish liquid that dripped into a trough. 1894, Robert Barr, chapter 7, in In the Midst of Alarms:
(alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of leech.
hu lúgozókád (tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.) · pl kadź do ługowania (tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.) · pl popiół drzewny (wood ashes) · bg луга (wood ashes) · hu lúgzókád (tub or vat for leaching ashes, bark, etc.)
From Middle English *lechen, *lecchen, from Old English leċċan, from Proto-Germanic *lakjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to leak”).
Meanings
(transitive) To purge a soluble matter out of something by the action of a percolating fluid.
[T]he very wet winter will have washed much of the goodness out of the soil. Homemade compost and the load of manure we get from a friendly farmer may not be enough to compensate for what has leached from the ground. 2014 April 21, Mary Keen, “You can still teach an old gardener new tricks: Even the hardiest of us gardeners occasionally learn useful new techniques [print version: Gardening is always ready to teach even the hardiest of us a few new tricks, 19 April 2014]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), page G7:
Heavy rainfall can leach out minerals important for plant growth from the soil.
(intransitive) To part with soluble constituents by percolation.
The gangue was leached to recover minerals left behind by the original technology.
(figuratively, intransitive) To bleed; to seep.
A more generic geography, one where the suburb uneasily abuts the commercial and industrial, or leaches out to a nonurban frontier. 2007, Andrew Shanken, “The Sublime "Jackass"”, in Places, volume 19:
There's a second half to each video. He remembers now. He watched it passively, over and over, and never saw it. Something comes through. It's been leaching into the background of the world this whole time, in plain sight, and he never saw it, and it's here now— 2019 April 10, qntm, “CASE HATE RED”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 140:
hu kimos (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · it purgare (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · sv vattna ur (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · fi liueta (to part with soluble constituents by percolation) · bg излугвам (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · it percolare (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · fi huuhtoutua (to part with soluble constituents by percolation) · it drenare (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · ru вымывать (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · fi liuottaa (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · sv dra ur (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · es lixiviar (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · pl ługować (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · pl wypłukiwać (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · cs vyplavovat (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · pl wyługować (to part with soluble constituents by percolation) · sl izlužiti (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · fi irrota (to part with soluble constituents by percolation) · pl ługować (to part with soluble constituents by percolation) · cs vyluhovat (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · hu kilúgoz (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · it filtrare (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · pl wypłukać (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · de auswaschen (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · mi whakapākeka (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · pl wyługować (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · sv laka ur (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · de auslaugen (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · pt lixiviar (to purge a soluble matter out of something) · fi huuhtoa (to purge a soluble matter out of something)