Leach and Leech - Commonly Confused Words

Leach and Leech - Commonly Confused Words The words leach and leech are homophones: they sound alike but have different meanings. Definitions The verb leach means to empty, drain, or remove. The noun leech refers to a bloodsucking worm or to a person who preys on or clings to another. As a verb, leech means to bleed with leeches or to act as a parasite. Examples Batteries are difficult to dispose of and contain harmful heavy-metal compounds that may leach into the soil.The river water was more corrosive than the Detroit systems and caused more lead to  leach  from its aging pipes. Lead can be toxic, and children are especially vulnerable.(Reuters, Michigan Attorney General Sues Frances Veolia in Flint Water Crisis. The New York Times, June 22, 2016)Similar to bloodletting, leeches were used to draw out the bad blood that medieval physicians believed caused many of their patients ailments.The sun rose in a cloudless sky, the same as before. We passed a large island without grass or tree or bush.  The sun  was a leech  that sucked the moisture from our flesh.(Scott ODell, The Kings Fifth. Houghton Mifflin, 1966)She  called him a leech, said hes always sponging off the rest of us.(Swati Kaushal, A Girl Like Me. Penguin, 2008) Idiom Alerts The expression leach away (something) or leach (something) away means to gradually erode or wash away.- Normally the excess salt would be  leached away  as rainwater percolates down through the soil. In dry climates, however, where there isnt enough rain or irrigation to drive the water down that far, salts can accumulate in the root zone.(Ann Larkin Hansen,  The Organic Farming Manual. Storey, 2010)- Nathan? Are you awake? The sweetness quickly  leached away  at the touch of Roiphes nasal voice, leaving a sourness tinged with anxiety, which, Nathan understood, was his default reaction to Roiphe.(David Cronenberg, Consumed. Scribner, 2014) Practice: Leaches or Leeches? (a) Its not pollution that makes the water so black; tannic acid naturally _____ into the river from cypress and pine trees growing along the shoreline. (Bruce Hunt)(b) In modern medicine, _____ are used in reconstructive surgery to provide a vacuum effect that helps stimulate blood circulation. Answers to Practice Exercises (a) Its not pollution that makes the water so black; tannic acid naturally leaches into the river from cypress and pine trees growing along the shoreline.(Bruce Hunt)(b) In modern medicine, leeches are used in reconstructive surgery to provide a vacuum effect that helps stimulate blood circulation.