(lēch) noun
1. Any one of a class (Hirudinea) of carnivorous, aquatic, bloodsucking annelid worms; especially, the medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis), formerly used for drawing blood, which can ingest three times its weight in blood.
2. Hence, one who appropriates or filches the substance or wealth of others.
3. Archaic A physician; doctor.
4. A blood–drawing apparatus: also artificial leech.
—v.t.
1. To bleed with leeches.
2. Obs. To treat with medicine; heal. ♦ Homophone: leach. [OE lce, orig. a physician]
—leech′er noun
LEECH
a. Common. b. Medicinal. (Vary in size from 1 to 18 inches)

(lēch) noun Naut.
1. The edge of a square sail.
2. The after edge of a fore–and–aft sail. ♦ Homophone: leach. [ME lich,? <Scand. Cf. ON lik a boltrope.]