leaky

Something that's leaky does not keep liquid inside as it should. Think of an old pipe, a roof after heavy rain, or a bucket with a tiny crack. A leaky faucet drips again and again, and a leaky boat lets water in little by little. Sometimes the word can also be used in a broader way for something that is not sealed well or has weak spots.

Imagine a child building a dam in a creek. If the dam has gaps or cracks, it's leaky, and the water slowly seeps through. You could also talk about a leaky tent, a leaky roof, or even a leaky pipe under the sink.

"Leaky" describes something that has holes, cracks, or weak points that let liquid escape or let it enter where it should not. It is most often used for everyday physical things like pipes, roofs, faucets, tents, boats, or containers. "The old bucket was so rusty and leaky that we couldn't carry enough water."

The idea behind the word is usually a slow, unwanted flow rather than a sudden break. A broken pipe may burst, but a leaky pipe drips over time. That is why the word often suggests an annoying problem that continues until someone fixes it.

Sometimes people also use the word more loosely for things beyond water. A system can be called leaky if it does not keep things in properly, and in technical or business contexts it may describe a place where information gets out when it should stay private. Even then, the picture behind the word is the same: something is escaping through a gap.

Picture rain falling through a small hole in an attic roof, or water slipping out of a cracked garden hose. In both cases, leaky tells us that something is not sealed or sound, and that the problem may seem small at first but can cause trouble if it is ignored.