leaky
English
Etymology
Likely a normalisation ( + -y) of earlier leak, leake, leke (“leaky”, adj), 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”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈliːki/
- Rhymes: -iːki
- Homophone: leeky
Adjective
leaky (comparative leakier, superlative leakiest)
- Having leaks; not fully sealed.
- The leaky bucket dripped only one drop at a time, but by the time I got back to the house it was half empty.
- The ceiling was so leaky that someone had to fix it.
- 1983, Michael Stephenson, Roger Hearn, The Nuclear Case Book:
- Nuclear reactors in Russian submarines are said to be so leaky that crews are often paid "sterility money".
Derived terms
- leakiness
- leaky abstraction
- leaky brain syndrome
- leaky bucket
- leaky gut syndrome
- nonleaky
Translations
having leaks; allows contents to escape
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