leaching
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Related to leaching: Heap leaching
leach
(lēch)v. leached, leach·ing, leach·es
v.tr.
1. To remove soluble or other constituents from by the action of a percolating liquid: heavy rains that leached the soil of minerals.
2. To remove from a substance by the action of a percolating liquid: acids in groundwater that leach calcium out of the bedrock.
3. To empty; drain: "a world leached of pleasure, voided of meaning" (Marilynne Robinson).
v.intr.
To be dissolved or passed out by a percolating liquid.
n.
1. The act or process of leaching.
2. A porous, perforated, or sievelike vessel that holds material to be leached.
3. The substance through which a liquid is leached.
[From Middle English leche, leachate, from Old English *lece, muddy stream; akin to leccan, to moisten.]
leach′a·bil′i·ty n.
leach′a·ble adj.
leach′er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
leaching
1. A process by which soluble constituents of soil are removed by liquid passing through it.
2. The loss of soluble nutrients from soil or compost.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
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| Noun | 1. | leaching - the process of leaching natural action, natural process, action, activity - a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings); "the action of natural forces"; "volcanic activity" |
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