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PlainSpell

leech

/ˈliːt͡ʃ/noun, verb

leech is spelled L-E-E-C-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “leach vs leech” about 2,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, leech means “A typically aquatic blood-sucking annelid of the subclass Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of leech is leeches.

How many letters and syllables are in leech?

Letters5: L-E-E-C-H
Syllables1
In writing1.5 times per million words; the 23,253rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is leech?

Leech appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 23,253rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce leech?

  • /ˈliːt͡ʃ/
  • [ˈlɪi̯t͡ʃ]

Leech has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-leech.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with leech

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

leach vs leech2,900 G

Sounds like: leach (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: leach.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with leech?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as leech.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: cheel.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of leech

  • leeches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • leeching participle, present
  • leeched participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does leech mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A typically aquatic blood-sucking annelid of the subclass Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.

  2. 2

    A person who derives advantage from others in a parasitic fashion.

  3. 3

    datedA glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.

  4. 4

    archaicA physician.

  5. 5

    A healer.

    In ancient times runesters were a specialized class separate from that of the witch or ordinary spell caster (much as the other specialists such as the leech or healer and the seithkona were different from a witch), and even today many beli

  6. 6

    The vertical edge of a square sail.

  7. 7

    The aft edge of a triangular sail.

verb

  1. 1

    To apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.

  2. 2

    To drain (resources) without giving back.

    Near-synonyms: mooch, suck down

  3. 3

    archaicrareTo treat, cure or heal.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Leech in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsangsue (annelid), pot de colle (person who derives profit from others)
GermanBlutegel, Egel (annelid), Blutsauger, Blutsaugerin (person who derives profit from others), saugen, leechen (to drain resources without giving back)
Portuguesesanguessuga (annelid), parasita (person who derives profit from others)
Spanishsanguijuela, sanguja (annelid)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does leech come from?

From Middle English leche (“blood-sucking worm”), from Old English lǣċe (“blood-sucking worm”), akin to Middle Dutch lāke ("blood-sucking worm"; > modern Dutch laak).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after leech