leak
Definitions
General English
- noun a hole in an object where liquid or gas can escape
- noun an occasion on which secret information is given to the public
- verb to flow away, to escape from its container
- verb to pass on secret information to the public
Aviation
- noun the escape of liquid or gas from a sealed container, or the amount of liquid or gas that has escaped
Electronics
- A flaw or fault which allows the undesired escape of something, such as a fluid or energy. Also, the location of such a flaw or fault. Also, that which escapes. May also refer to such a flaw or fault which allows the undesired entry of something.
- The flow of current through unwanted paths of a circuit, along the surface or through the body of a dielectric or insulator, or that which is otherwise undesired or lost. Also, the current which flows in this manner, or is lost.
- noun a breach of security or loss of important information
Law
- noun the unofficial passing of information which has not yet been published, by officials, MPs or employees to newspapers, TV or radio stations, or other public forums
- verb to make secret information public without being authorised to do so
- noun an occasion when confidential information is given to the media, or the information itself
- verb to give confidential information to the media unofficially, or become known unofficially
Politics
- noun the unofficial passing of secret information or information which has not yet been published to newspapers or television stations
Slang
- noun an act of urination. Usually in the expressions ‘have a leak’ or ‘take a leak’. The origin of this predictable usage may be nautical.
Origin & History of “leak”
The ultimate
source of
leak is probably a prehistoric Germanic *
lek-,
which denoted ‘deficiency’ (a variant *
lak- gave
English lack). It is not
clear how
this reached English; it
could have been via Old Norse
leka, or
through middle Dutch
lēken.
