leak — OET · Shobdo

leak

verb

1 oil leaking from the tanker:

seep (out), escape, ooze (out), exude, discharge, emanate, issue, drip, dribble, drain, bleed;

spill, stream, gush (out), spurt, spout, squirt, spew, jet.

2 ageing underground tanks are leaking gasoline into the area:

discharge, exude, emit, eject, release, drip, dribble, pour out, send forth, ooze, excrete, secrete.

3 informal civil servants who leak information are criticized by politicians for a breach of trust:

disclose, divulge, reveal, make known, make public, tell, impart, pass on, relate, communicate, expose, broadcast, publish, release, unveil, give away, betray, admit, confess, let slip, blurt out, bring into the open, bring to light;

let on;

informal take the lid off, blow wide open, blab, let the cat out of the bag, spill the beans, blow the gaff.

noun

1 check that there are no leaks in the bag:

hole, opening, puncture, perforation, prick, cut, gash, slit, nick, rent, break, rift, crack, crevice, chink, fissure, rupture, aperture.

2 a gas leak was discovered:

discharge, leakage, leaking, oozing, seeping, seepage, drip, percolation;

escape, gush, issue, flow, outflow, emanation;

technical efflux.

3 informal a series of leaks to the media:

disclosure, revelation, divulgence, uncovering, admission, confession, exposé.

leak Oxford Dictionary of English