leech
    n 1: carnivorous or bloodsucking aquatic or terrestrial worms
         typically having a sucker at each end [syn: leech,
         bloodsucker, hirudinean]
    2: a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the
       host) in hope of gain or advantage [syn: leech, parasite,
       sponge, sponger]
    v 1: draw blood; "In the old days, doctors routinely bled
         patients as part of the treatment" [syn: bleed, leech,
         phlebotomize, phlebotomise]

Leech \Leech\ (l[=e]ch), n.
   See 2d Leach.
   [1913 Webster]

Leech \Leech\, v. t.
   See Leach, v. t.
   [1913 Webster]

Leech \Leech\, n. [Cf. LG. leik, Icel. l[imac]k, Sw. lik
   boltrope, st[*a]ende liken the leeches.] (Naut.)
   The border or edge at the side of a sail. [Written also
   leach.]
   [1913 Webster]

   Leech line, a line attached to the leech ropes of sails,
      passing up through blocks on the yards, to haul the
      leeches by. --Totten.

   Leech rope, that part of the boltrope to which the side of
      a sail is sewed.
      [1913 Webster]

Leech \Leech\, n. [OE. leche, l[ae]che, physician, AS. l[=ae]ce;
   akin to Fries. l[=e]tza, OHG. l[=a]hh[imac], Icel.
   l[ae]knari, Sw. l[aum]kare, Dan. l[ae]ge, Goth. l[=e]keis,
   AS. l[=a]cnian to heal, Sw. l[aum]ka, Dan. l[ae]ge, Icel.
   l[ae]kna, Goth. l[=e]kin[=o]n.]
   1. A physician or surgeon; a professor of the art of healing.
      [Written also leach.] [Archaic] --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

            Leech, heal thyself.                  --Wyclif (Luke
                                                  iv. 23).

   2. (Zool.) Any one of numerous genera and species of annulose
      worms, belonging to the order Hirudinea, or Bdelloidea,
      esp. those species used in medicine, as Hirudo
      medicinalis of Europe, and allied species.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: In the mouth of bloodsucking leeches are three
         convergent, serrated jaws, moved by strong muscles. By
         the motion of these jaws a stellate incision is made in
         the skin, through which the leech sucks blood till it
         is gorged, and then drops off. The stomach has large
         pouches on each side to hold the blood. The common
         large bloodsucking leech of America (Macrobdella
         decora) is dark olive above, and red below, with black
         spots. Many kinds of leeches are parasitic on fishes;
         others feed upon worms and mollusks, and have no jaws
         for drawing blood. See Bdelloidea. Hirudinea, and
         Clepsine.
         [1913 Webster]

   3. (Surg.) A glass tube of peculiar construction, adapted for
      drawing blood from a scarified part by means of a vacuum.
      [1913 Webster]

   Horse leech, a less powerful European leech (H[ae]mopis
      vorax), commonly attacking the membrane that lines the
      inside of the mouth and nostrils of animals that drink at
      pools where it lives.
      [1913 Webster]

Leech \Leech\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Leeched (l[=e]cht); p. pr.
   & vb. n. Leeching.]
   1. To treat as a surgeon; to doctor; as, to leech wounds.
      [Archaic]
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To bleed by the use of leeches.
      [1913 Webster]

leech


    1. n. (Also leecher.) Among BBS types, crackers and warez d00dz, one who
    consumes knowledge without generating new software, cracks, or techniques.
    BBS culture specifically defines a leech as someone who downloads files
    with few or no uploads in return, and who does not contribute to the
    message section. Cracker culture extends this definition to someone (a 
    lamer, usually) who constantly presses informed sources for information
    and/or assistance, but has nothing to contribute. See troughie.

    2. v. [common, Toronto area] v. To download a file across any kind of
    internet link. ?Hop on IRC later so I can leech some MP3s from you.? Used
    to describe activities ranging from FTP, to IRC DCC-send, to ICQ file
    requests, to Napster searches (but never to downloading email with file
    attachments; the implication is that the download is the result of a browse
    or search of some sort of file server). Seems to be a holdover from the
    early 1990s when Toronto had a very active BBS and warez scene. Synonymous
    with snarf (sense 2), and contrast snarf (sense 4).

leech

    Someone who downloads files but provides
   nothing for others to download.  The term is common on
   BitTorrent, which relies on having multiple sources for
   files to improve download speed.

   (2007-03-27)