leak n.
1. the female genitals.
‘Work for a Cooper’ in Poetical Works of John Gay (1854) 213: Her coats rose high, her master saw – I see – he cries – (then claspt her fast) The leak through which my wine has past . | ||
‘Witcomb Bay’ in Cockchafer 12: He press’d her downy billow, / And soon he stopp’d her leak. |
2. (orig. US) the act of urination.
implied in take a leak | ||
On the Road (The Orig. Scroll) (2007) 180: I drank so much I had to rush out of the booth for a leak every two minutes. | ||
Bunch of Ratbags 148: He’s just gone for a leak. | ||
Go-Boy! 107: Hang on just a minute, will you? I gotta have a leak. | ||
Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 37: He’d not even dared to stop for a leak until he’d hit the A1. | ||
G’DAY 5: When an Australian goes to urinate [...] he most often goes for a piss, a slash, or a leak. He hardly ever shakes hands with the wife’s best friend. | ||
Turning (2005) 6: We pull over for a leak. | ‘Big World’ in
3. (orig. US) a piece of hitherto secret information that has been revealed.
[ | Perrysburg Jrnl 1 Sept. 6/1: For some time now a constant ‘leakage’ of these confidential documents had been noticed [...] and Dreyfus was under suspicion. | |
🌐 n.p.: Both your brother and Sammy [...] asked you wouldn’t use the telephone; they’re afraid of a leak. | Frame Up||
Dict. Amer. Sl. | ||
Third Degree (1931) 68: After the arrest the gang figured there must be a leak from the outside. | ||
Capt. Bulldog Drummond 185: The knowledge which he had acquired [...] might be the means effectively of stopping a very dangerous leak. | ||
One Lonely Night 100: The leak could just as well have come out of police headquarters. | ||
Scene (1996) 146: I’ll string out a few feelers for leaks. | ||
Guardian Media 19 July 2: A series of leaks described him as a management naif. | ||
(con. 1932-3) | Bodyline Autopsy 189: [Jack] Fingleton’s claim that it was [Don] Bradman who was responsible for steering the leak for public consumption.||
Out of Bounds (2017) 81: There’s a leak somewhere in my ystrem. The media gets to hear about the cases . |
4. (Aus., also leaker) an informer.
White Moll 142: Where did you get the dope you made your plays with? It was a cinch, wasn’t it, that there was a leak somewhere in our crowd. | ||
Quick Brown Fox 230: [T]here was a leak in the News-Press, and Kelly got tipped off to anything big that was coming up, just in case he missed it himself. | ||
in The Final Days 319: Haig had a low opinion of Hartmann [...] whom he judged a heavy drinker and a leaker. |
5. (Aus.) a trick, a dodge.
These Are My People (1957) 144: I use Eno’s Fruit Salts instead of baking powder [...] I know all the leaks. |
In phrases
(US) to trick, to deceive.
Clockmaker II 89: You’ve put the leake into ’em this hitch rael complete; it’s grand! | ||
Sam Slick in England II 127: He can’t put the leake into me that way. | ||
Nature and Human Nature I 237: I have done it myself [...] puttin’ the leak into a consaited critter sometimes for fun. |
1. to have a venereal disease.
Chances II ii: anthony: Thou hast such a Master for that chase, That till he spend his maine Mast—— peter: Pray remember Your courtesie good Anthony; and withall, How long ’tis your Master sprung a leak, He had a sound one since he came. |
2. (also hang a leak) to urinate.
‘Mlle. from Armentieres’ 🎵 The proper place to take a leak / Is right on the corner of the main street. | ||
Gas-House McGinty 188: You got so much slob around that gut you ain’t seen yourself take a leak for years. | ||
Caught (2001) 43: The man looked at him expressionless, said no word, unbuttoned his trousers and [...] sprang a leak on to the pavement. | ||
(con. 1944) Naked and Dead 183: If you have to take a leak, for God’s sake go outside. | ||
Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 221: spring a leak [...] to urinate. | ||
Crazy Kill 141: You sure it wasn’t just to take a leak. | ||
Howard Street 70: I gotta take a leak. Be right back. | ||
Dress Gray (1979) 174: You might have to take a leak, the call of nature. | IV||
Liberty Tree 44: He leaves his russet hide to take a leak. | ‘Local Histories’ in||
Clockers 4: If he was to go take a leak, the guy would be lying in the grass with a crease in his hat. | ||
(con. 1970s) King Suckerman (1998) 19: [They] could check out your equipment while you were trying to take a leak. | ||
Florida Roadkill 177: Marla Maples took a leak in the beach right there. | ||
Skinny Dip 112: She let her damn mutts take a leak on my tar! | ||
Peepshow [ebook] He stopped at a palm tree to hang a leak [...] but only a thin trickle of urine dribbled out. | ||
Thrill City [ebook] He never hangs a leak, despite sinking copious quiantities of Coppers Pale. | ||
Happy Mutant Baby Pills 99: The guy who jumps out of a building and pancakes another guy taking a leak when he lands. |
1. (US Und.) to inform, to betray.
Und. and Prison Sl. |
2. to start crying.
Coll. Stories (1990) 164: Then she had turned on the ‘leaks’ — just a pitiful victim of a big, bad, stick-up man. | ‘Prison Mass’ in