leak
part of speech
verb (leak, leaks, leaked, leaking); noun (a leak, leaks)
meaning for a pupil
1) To leak means to let liquid or gas escape through a hole or crack by accident. tree →
2) A leak is a small hole or crack that lets things through, or the liquid or gas that escapes. tree →
3) To leak a secret means to tell it to people who should not know. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life and safety, a leaking tap, roof or pipe drips water; a gas leak smells like rotten eggs and is an emergency, so leave the house and tell an adult, and do not switch lights on or off. Batteries can leak harmful liquid; don't touch it. Phrases: spring a leak, gas leak, leak out, leaky.
examples
- The roof leaks when it rains. tree →
- There's a leak in the bucket. tree →
- If you smell gas, there may be a gas leak; get out and tell an adult. tree →
- My water bottle is leaking in my bag. tree →
- The boat sprang a leak and began to sink. tree →
- Old batteries can leak acid. tree →
- Someone leaked the surprise, so she knew about the party. tree →
- Put a pot under the leak to catch the drips. tree →
- The main mast was split asunder, the ship sprang a leak, and the pumps became useless, while all around was black as night. tree →
note
Regular verb: leaked. Do not confuse with «leek», a vegetable like an onion (they sound the same). Adjective: leaky. In maths problems, a leak means water is lost at a rate, for example 2 litres per hour, which is subtracted.
In the corpora
- Our noses sense particular molecules; natural gas has no smell, so companies add a smelly chemical to make leaks noticeable.
- A cold can gets wet on the outside because water vapour from the air condenses on it; it is not leaking.
- "Take a leak" is slang for urinate.
- Natural gas has no smell, so a strong-smelling chemical is added to make leaks noticeable.
- Leaking gas smells like rotten eggs.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «leak» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.