leak
n. countablen. a hole or crack that lets liquid or gas escape by mistake. It can also mean secret information that someone tells the public or the media.
n. an accidental hole or fissure through which fluid or gas enters or escapes. In a figurative sense, it refers to the intentional but unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.
The plumber is coming to fix a leak under the kitchen sink.
A whistleblower provided a leak to the press regarding the company's hidden environmental impact.
Engineers identified a microscopic leak in the pressurized hull that, if left unaddressed, could have compromised the structural integrity of the entire vessel during the ascent.
From Middle English leken (“to let water in or out”), from Old English lecan (“to leak”), Middle Dutch leken (“to leak, drip”) or Old Norse leka (“to leak, drip”); all from Proto-Germanic lekaną (“to leak, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European leg-, leǵ- (“to leak”). Cognate with Dutch lekken (“to leak”), German lechen, lecken (“to leak”), Danish lække (“to leak”), Swedish läcka (“to leak”), Icelandic leka (“to leak”). Related also to Old English leċċan (“to water, wet”), Albanian lag, lak (“I damp, make wet”). See also leach, lake. (divulgation, disclosure of information): Compare typologically Bulgarian изтичане (iztičane), Polish przeciek, Russian уте́чка (utéčka) (akin to течь impf or f (tečʹ)).
Commonly used with the verbs 'spring' or 'develop' when referring to physical objects, and 'provide' or 'source' for information.
The pipe is leaking waterThe pipe has a leakWhile 'leak' is also a verb, when using it as a noun to describe the problem itself, you must use the verb 'have' or 'there is'.