leachate

L1E1A1C3H4A1T1E1
/ˈliːt͡ʃeɪt/

noun

The liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material.

Less commonScrabble 13

Meanings

nounleachate (countable and uncountable, plural leachates)

plural leachates

  1. countableuncountablesoil scienceThe liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material.
    3 more examples

    1980, Grant E. Kimmel, Olin C. Braids, Leachate Plumes in Ground Water from Babylon and Islip Landfills, Long Island, New York, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 1085, page 32, Probably the main reason that leachate enrichment was highest near the bottom of the aquifer beneath the landfill is that the heavier, leachate-rich water sinks by gravity as it moves out of the refuse, and not because it is displaced downward by freshwater from the surface.

    1994, James M. Brannon, Tommy E. Myers, Barbara A. Tardy, Leachate Testing and Evaluation for Freshwater Sediments, US Army Corps of Engineers, Miscellaneous Paper D-94-1, page 23, Two aspects of leachate generation from CDFs are of particular concern, leachate contaminant concentrations and leachate flow.

    1999, George Mulamoottil, Edward A. McBean, Frank Rovers (editors), Constructed Wetlands for the Treatment of Landfill Leachates, CRC Press (Lewis Publishers), page xiv, However, the development of this technology using constructed wetlands to treat landfill leachates has to be supplemented by investigations on the breakdown and pathways of the contaminants.

Origin

From leach + -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French lixiviat
  • lixiviatliquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
German Sickerwasser
  • Sickerwasserliquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
Indonesian lindi
  • lindiliquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
Italian percolato
  • percolatoliquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
Māori waiwhakapākeka, waipapī
  • waiwhakapākekaliquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
  • waipapīliquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

leachate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leachate

MLA

“leachate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leachate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “leachate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leachate.

Source: leachate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.