Link Centre Dictionary

leaky

UK/ˈliːki/ US/ˈliki/ uncommon

adjective

1.

permitting leaks or leakage

  • “a leaky roof”
  • “a leaky defense system”
Antonyms
Similar
2.

(of ships and boats) permitting leakage

Synonyms
Similar
3.

permitting liquids to penetrate

  • “a tarpaulin too leaky to be of much use”
Similar
4.
5.

Origin

Likely a normalisation ( + -y) of earlier leak, leake, leke (“leaky”, adjective), from Middle English leke (“leaky”), from Old English hlec, *lec (“having cracks or rents; leaky”), from Proto-Germanic *lekaz (“leaking; leaky”). By surface analysis, leak + -y. Cognate with Scots lek, leck (“leaky”), Saterland Frisian läk (“leaky”), Dutch lek (“leaky”), German Low German leck (“leaky”), German leck (“leaky”), Swedish läck (“leaky”), Icelandic lekur (“leaky”).

Phrases

  • leaky abstraction
  • leaky brain syndrome
  • leaky bucket
  • leaky gut syndrome
  • leaky rectified linear unit
  • leaky weir

Related words

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.