take a leak
"take-a-leak" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“take a leak” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To urinate.
Corpus desk
Index EN-take-a-leak · take a leak · English
take a leak · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | take a leak |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “take a leak” in English
Rare enough to double-check
take a leak is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To urinate.".
take a leak doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the slang use of leak in reference to an act of urination. The correct English form is take a leak, spelled T-A-K-E- -A- -L-E-A-K.
Definition
- 1To urinate.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how take a leak appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
They could scarcely bear their knowledge, nor could they have borne the sight of Rufus, but they knew why he was in the streets tonight, why he rode subways all night long, why his stomach growled, why his hair was nappy, his armpits funky, his pants and shoes too thin, and why he did not dare to stop and take a leak.
The piano has been drinking / My neck tie is asleep / And the combo went back to New York / The jukebox has to take a leak
Etymology
From the slang use of leak in reference to an act of urination.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.