# leech

> English word · Noun · IPA /liːt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #23,327

## Definitions
1. An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of subclass Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
2. A person who derives advantage from others in a parasitic fashion.
3. A glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.

## Etymology
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).

## Easily confused with
- **Leh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leh)
- **loch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-loch)
- **lees** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-lees)
- **leek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leek)
- **leed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leed)
- **leer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leer)
- **lunch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-lunch)
- **Leeds** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leeds)
- **lynch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-lynch)
- **leigh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leigh)
- **Leith** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leith)
- **Leela** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leela)
- **Leica** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leica)
- **lurch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-lurch)
- **leery** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leery)
- **leeches** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leech-vs-leeches)
- **lee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lee-vs-leech)
- **Leah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leah-vs-leech)
- **leash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leash-vs-leech)
- **latch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/latch-vs-leech)

## Common misspellings (7)
`elech`, `leceh`, `lech`, `leecch`, `leechh`, `leehc`, `lleech`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/leech