Which to use
“leaching” and “leaking” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,778
- “leaching” frequency rank
- #11,243
- “leaking” frequency rank
- 52021
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leaching | leaking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of leach | present participle and gerund of leak |
Where the eye mixes leaching and leaking
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leaching with leaking
A purely visual mix-up. leaching (/ˈliːt͡ʃɪŋ/) and leaking (/ˈliːkɪŋ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52021, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leaching is recorded at frequency rank #40,778, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈliːt͡ʃɪŋ/. leaking is at rank #11,243, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈliːkɪŋ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 52021, this pair ranks #160,529 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leaching vs leaking
Shared letters: aegiln. Private to "leaching": ch. Private to "leaking": k.
"leaching" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "leaking" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leaching" and "leaking" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "leaching" or "leaking" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "leaching" and "leaking" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "leaching" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leaking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #160,529 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leaching" and "leaking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "latching vs leaching". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #160,529 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.