Standard Lemma guide

leachate

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈliːt͡ʃeɪt/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Qualifier: soil science

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.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: lixiviat — liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
  • German: Sickerwasser — liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
  • Indonesian: lindi — liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
  • Italian: percolato — liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
  • Māori: waiwhakapākeka — liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material
  • Māori: waipapī — liquid produced when water percolates through a permeable material