leak
[noun]
Synonyms:
- hole, aperture, chink, crack, crevice, fissure, opening, puncture
- drip, leakage, percolation, seepage
- disclosure, divulgence
[verb]
Synonyms:
- drip, escape, exude, ooze, pass, percolate, seep, spill, trickle
- disclose, divulge, give away, let slip, make known, make public, pass on, reveal, tell

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English Thesaurus: break, smash, shatter, crack, burst, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. leak¹ /liːk/ verb
[Date: 1400-1500; Language: Old Norse; Origin: leka]

1. [intransitive and transitive] if a container, pipe, roof etc leaks, or if it leaks gas, liquid etc, there is a small hole or crack in it that lets gas or liquid flow through:
The roof is leaking.
A tanker is leaking oil off the coast of Scotland.

2. [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if a gas or liquid leaks somewhere, it gets through a hole in something Synonym : seep
leak into/from/out
Sea water was leaking into the batteries which powered the electric motors.

3. [transitive] to deliberately give secret information to a newspaper, television company etc:
The report’s findings had been leaked.
leak something to somebody
civil servants who leak information to the press
leak out phrasal verb
if secret information leaks out, a lot of people find out about it:
No sooner had the news leaked out than my telephone started ringing.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. leak² noun [countable]

1. a small hole that lets liquid or gas flow into or out of something:
There is a leak in the ceiling.
The boat had sprung a leak (=a hole had appeared in it).

2. a gas/oil/water etc leak an escape of gas or liquid through a hole in something:
A gas leak caused the explosion.

3. a situation in which secret information is deliberately given to a newspaper, television company etc:
It became evident from the leaks that something important was going on.

4. take/have a leak informal to get rid of waste liquid from your body Synonym : urinate

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

leak
noun
I. small hole/crack
VERB + LEAK have The boat had a small leak.
spring The pipe has sprung a leak.
plug, stop I managed to plug the leak.
PREP. ~ in a leak in the roof

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

leak
II. when gas/liquid escapes
ADJ. major, serious | minor | slow | fuel, gas, oil, radiation, radioactive
VERB + LEAK cause The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday.
detect, discover, find, notice, spot Fortunately, we spotted the leak in time.
fix, repair, stop The plumber fixed the leak.
prevent taking steps to prevent gas leaks in the future
LEAK + VERB happen, occur
PREP. ~ from Pollution inspectors were called to a leak from a chemical factory.
~ of a leak of dangerous chemicals

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

leak
III. giving away information
ADJ. security
LEAK + VERB come from sth The leak could only have come from one source.
PREP. ~ about a security leak about a number of suspicious deaths among civil servants
~ from a leak from the prime minister's office
~ of a leak of confidential material
~ to a leak to the American authorities
PHRASES the source of a leak The organization's press secretary is thought to be the source of the leak.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

leak
verb
I. allow sth to get out through a hole
ADV. badly The house was old and the roof leaked quite badly.
slightly

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

leak
II. tell sb about sth
ADV. carefully, deliberately | widely The document had been widely leaked.
PREP. from Confidential information that has been leaked from the BBC.
to The report was leaked to the press.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

break verb [intransitive] to become damaged and separate into pieces:
Plastic breaks quite easily.
smash verb [intransitive] to break after being hit with a lot of force:
The bowl smashed as it hit the floor.
shatter verb [intransitive] to break into a lot of small pieces:
The glass shattered all over the pavement.
crack verb [intransitive] if something cracks, a line appears on the surface, which means that it could later break into separate pieces:
The ice was starting to crack.
burst verb [intransitive] if a tyre, balloon, pipe etc bursts, it gets a hole and air or liquid suddenly comes out of it:
She blew up the balloon until it burst.
split verb [intransitive] to break in a straight line:
The damp had caused the wood to split.
crumble verb [intransitive] to break into a powder or a lot of small pieces:
The cork just crumbled in my hand.
hole an empty space in the surface of something, which sometimes goes all the way through it:
A fox had dug a hole under our fence.
Rain was coming in through a hole in the roof.
space an empty area between two things, into which you can put something:
Are there any empty spaces on the bookshelf?
a parking space
gap an empty area between two things or two parts of something, especially one that should not be there:
He has a gap between his two front teeth.
I squeezed through a gap in the hedge.
opening a hole that something can pass through or that you can see through, especially at the entrance of something:
The train disappeared into the dark opening of the tunnel.
I looked through the narrow opening in the wall.
leak a small hole where something has been damaged or broken that lets liquid or gas flow in or out:
a leak in the pipe
The plumber's coming to repair the leak.
puncture especially British English a small hole in a tyre through which air escapes:
My bike's got a puncture.
slot a straight narrow hole that you put a particular type of object into:
You have to put a coin in the slot before you dial the number.
A small disk fits into a slot in the camera.
crater a round hole in the ground made by an explosion or by a large object hitting it hard:
a volcanic crater
The meteor left a crater over five miles wide.
the craters on the moon

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

flow if liquid flows, it moves in a steady continuous stream:
Blood flowed from his hand.
The river flows very quickly at this point.
run to flow – used when saying that something flows in a particular direction:
Water was running down the walls of the room.
Sweat ran off his nose.
The river runs into the sea.
come out to flow out of something:
You couldn't drink any of the water that came out of the tap.
pour to flow in large quantities:
The rain poured down.
Blood was pouring from a wound on his head.
gush to flow out quickly in very large quantities:
Water was gushing out at more than 3000 gallons a minute.
spurt to flow out suddenly with a lot of force:
Oil was spurting from a small hole in the pipe.
trickle to flow slowly in drops or in a thin stream:
Clare felt sweat trickling down the back of her neck.
leak to flow in or out through a small hole or crack, usually when this is not meant to happen:
Oil was leaking from the engine.
ooze to flow from something very slowly – used about blood or a thick liquid:
Blood was oozing from the wound.
Jam oozed out as she bit into the cake.
drip to fall in drops:
Water dripped from the tap continuously.
cascade to flow down the side of something in large amounts:
Water cascades down the hilllside.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

hole an empty space in the surface of something, which sometimes goes all the way through it:
A fox had dug a hole under our fence.
Rain was coming in through a hole in the roof.
space an empty area between two things, into which you can put something:
Are there any empty spaces on the bookshelf?
a parking space
gap an empty area between two things or two parts of something, especially one that should not be there:
He has a gap between his two front teeth.
I squeezed through a gap in the hedge.
opening a hole that something can pass through or that you can see through, especially at the entrance of something:
The train disappeared into the dark opening of the tunnel.
I looked through the narrow opening in the wall.
leak a small hole where something has been damaged or broken that lets liquid or gas flow in or out:
a leak in the pipe
The plumber's coming to repair the leak.
puncture especially British English a small hole in a tyre through which air escapes:
My bike's got a puncture.
crack a very narrow space between two things or two parts of something:
The snake slid into a crack in the rock.
She was peering through the crack in the curtains.
slot a straight narrow hole that you put a particular type of object into:
You have to put a coin in the slot before you dial the number.
A small disk fits into a slot in the camera.
crater a round hole in the ground made by an explosion or by a large object hitting it hard:
a volcanic crater
The meteor left a crater over five miles wide.
the craters on the moon
make a hole in something to cause a hole to appear in something:
Make a hole in the bottom of the can using a hammer and nail.
pierce to make a small hole in or through something, using a pointed object:
The dog's teeth had pierced her skin.
Shelley wanted to have her ears pierced (=for earrings).
prick to make a very small hole in the surface of something, using a pointed object:
Prick the potatoes before baking them.
My finger was bleeding where the needle had pricked it.
punch to make a hole through paper or flat material using a metal tool or other sharp object:
I bought one of those things for punching holes in paper.
You have to get your ticket punched before you get on the train.
perforate formal to make a hole or holes in something:
Fragments of the bullet had perforated his intestines.
drill to make a hole using a special tool, often one which turns round and round very quickly:
The dentist started drilling a hole in my tooth.
They won a contract to drill for oil in the area.
bore to make a deep round hole through a rock, into the ground etc:
They had to bore through solid rock.
The men were boring a hole for the tunnel.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

reveal to let someone know about something that is secret or has not been known until now:
Doctors are not allowed to reveal confidential information.
It was revealed that he had smoked marijuana at college.
tell to talk about something to someone, so that they know about it:
Don’t tell anyone about this just yet.
Shall I tell you a secret?
disclose formal to publicly reveal something such as a fact or a name that has been kept secret:
The terms of the agreement have not yet been disclosed.
The agent did not disclose that there had been a violent crime in the house.
divulge //daɪˈvʌldʒ, də-// formal to reveal important or personal information which was previously secret or unknown:
The bank has refused to divulge its plans.
I’m afraid I cannot divulge what was said to me.
make something public to tell people about important information, especially after it has been kept secret:
Apparently they were engaged for some time before making it public.
The government has agreed that sources of financing should in future be made public.
leak to deliberately give secret information to a newspaper, television company etc, when a government or other organization wants to keep it secret:
The contents of the email were leaked to the press.
A man was charged today with leaking official secrets.
give something away (also spill the beans informal) to tell someone something that you want to keep secret:
He was careful not to give away any trade secrets.
I’m not going to give away how much I paid for it!
let slip informal to accidentally tell someone about something:
He let slip that he was envious of his older brother.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲