leaky

/'li:ki/

Thân thiện

The old bucket is leaky and drips water onto the floor.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Having holes or cracks that allow liquid or gas to escape or enter: Describes an object or structure that is not watertight or airtight, permitting unwanted passage of fluids or gases.
   • Prone to unintentionally revealing secrets or confidential information: Used informally to describe a person who cannot keep secrets.
   • Unable to retain urine: Used informally to describe a condition of urinary incontinence.

Usage Examples

• Describing objects:
  • We need to fix that leaky faucet; it's wasting water.
  • The boat was too leaky to be safe for the voyage.
• Describing systems or defenses:
  • The team's leaky defense allowed three goals in the first half.
  • The software had a leaky abstraction, causing performance issues.
• Describing people (informal):
  • Don't tell him the news; he's known to be leaky.
• Describing a medical condition (informal):
  • The medication can cause patients to become temporarily leaky.

Advanced Usage

• "Leaky gut": A hypothetical, medically debated condition in which the lining of the small intestine is damaged, allowing undigested food particles, toxins, and bacteria to pass into the bloodstream.
  • Some alternative medicine practitioners focus on treating leaky gut syndrome.
• "Leaky abstraction": In computer science, an abstraction that fails to fully hide the underlying details it is supposed to abstract.
  • Dealing with memory management in a high-level language can expose a leaky abstraction.

Variants and Related Words

• Leak (verb/noun): The act or instance of leaking.
  • The pipe began to leak. / There was a gas leak.
• Leakiness (noun): The state or quality of being leaky.
  • The leakiness of the old roof was evident after the storm.

Synonyms

• Porous: Full of tiny holes that allow water or air to pass through slowly.
• Drippy: Tending to drip (often used for faucets).
• Incontinent: Lacking voluntary control over urination or defecation (formal medical term).
• Indiscreet: Revealing things that should remain secret.

Related Phrases

• Spring a leak: To begin to leak suddenly.
  • The old tire sprang a leak and went flat.

Related Idioms

• A leaky ship: Often used metaphorically to describe an organization, plan, or argument that is flawed and failing.
  • Their financial strategy was a leaky ship from the start.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. prone to communicate confidential information
2. used informally; unable to retain urine
3. permitting the unwanted passage of fluids or gases
   • a leaky roof
   • a leaky defense system

Từ đồng nghĩa

• blabbermouthed
• talebearing
• tattling