leech
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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]
from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
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).
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
105 Moby Thesaurus words for "leech":
Chilopoda, Chordata, Doctor of Medicine, Echiuroidea, Ectoprocta,
Entoprocta, GP, MD, Monoplacophora, Nemertinea, Phoronidea,
adherent, adhesive, allopath, allopathist, attending physician,
barnacle, beat, bedbug, blackmailer, bleed, bloodsucker, boltrope,
bramble, brier, bulldog, burr, canvas, cement, clew, cloth,
coroner, country doctor, cringle, croaker, crowd of sail, cup,
deadbeat, decal, decalcomania, doc, doctor, earing, extortionist,
family doctor, foot, fore-and-aft sail, freeloader,
general practitioner, give a transfusion, glue, gunk, harpy, head,
house physician, intern, let blood, limpet, luff,
medical attendant, medical examiner, medical man,
medical practitioner, medico, molasses, mosquito, mucilage, muslin,
parasite, paste, perfuse, phlebotomize, physician,
physician in ordinary, plain sail, plaster, predator,
press of sail, prickle, profiteer, racketeer, rag, raptor,
reduced sail, reef point, reefed sail, remora, resident,
resident physician, sail, sawbones, shakedown artist, shark,
smell-feast, sponge, sponger, square sail, sticker, syrup, thorn,
tick, transfuse, vampire, vulture, wood tick
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