2 syllables: leak, ing. Stress on leak.
/ˈlikɪŋ/
Say it backLeaking is the act of a liquid escaping through a small opening, or the verb form indicating that such an escape is happening. It can describe water or other fluids seeping from a container, or metaphorically, information or secrecy slipping out. The word often implies gradual or unwanted seepage rather than a deliberate release.
"A pipe is leaking in the basement and the floor is getting damp."
"They detected leaking gas and evacuated the building."
"The roof is leaking after the storm, so we need to put a bucket under the leak."
Pronounce as LEAK-ing with stress on the first syllable: /ˈliː.kɪŋ/. Start with the long E sound in LEA- (as in 'see'), then move to a quick, almost clipped /k/ before the -ing. The second syllable uses a short /ɪ/ like in 'kit'. In rapid speech, the /ˈliː/ can sound slightly reduced to /ˈliː/; keep the /k/ crisp to differentiate from 'leaky' (LEE-kee) and avoid elongating the /ɪŋ/.
Two common errors: (1) Turning /liː/ into a shorter /lɪ/ or /li/ leading to 'lih-king' rather than 'LEAK-ing'; keep the long /iː/ sound. (2) Slurring the -ing into a nasal without crisp /k/, producing 'leak-ng' or 'leak-ing' with a weak /k/. Correction: hold the /iː/ long enough and insert a clear /k/ closure before the -ɪŋ, ensuring the syllables are distinct: /ˈliː.kɪŋ/.
In US/UK/AU, the primary vowel /iː/ in LEA- is similar, but rhotics impact the following syllable: US and AU are rhotic, so you maintain /ɹ/ color with a more pronounced r in some linked speech; UK non-rhotic may drop r-coloring in connected speech. The /k/ is a voiceless stop with a crisp release in all, but vowel quality around /ɪ/ can vary subtly: US tends to a nearer-central /ɪ/ in rapid speech; UK may lean toward a shorter, tenser /ɪ/. Overall pronunciation remains /ˈliː.kɪŋ/ across accents, with minor vowel quality and rhythm differences.
The challenge lies in maintaining a clean /ˈliː/ onset with a rapid yet distinct /k/ release before the -ɪŋ suffix. You must avoid turning /ˈliː.kɪŋ/ into /ˈleɪ.kɪŋ/ or diluting the /k/ into a /t/ or /s/ in connected speech. The transition from a long vowel to a short, clipped consonant cluster requires precise tongue movement: high front tongue for /iː/, then rapid retraction for /k/ and a clean nasal /ŋ/.
The word combines a long front vowel /iː/ with a hard /k/ closure before a nasal -ing suffix, so the unique pattern is LEAK + -ing, where the /k/ acts as a coda closing the first syllable before the alveolar nasal onset of the second. This creates a two-syllable rhythm with a sharp stop before the nasal, which is a hallmark of many English monosyllables that end in -ing derivatives. IPA: /ˈliː.kɪŋ/.
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Leaking comes from the verb leak, dating back to Old English leacan (to flow, escape) and similar Germanic roots. The noun form leak entered Middle English from the verb as a description of escape, seepage, or a hole through which liquid escapes. The sense broadened in Early Modern English to include figurative meanings like information slipping out. The phonetic form [ˈliː.kɪŋ] reflects the typical English reduction of the sond /iː/ in unstressed positions and the suffix -ing that brands ongoing action. First known use of the modern participle form likely appears in the 16th-17th centuries as engineering and moisture-related descriptions proliferated in technical and domestic language. Over time, leaking has become common in both literal contexts (plumbing, containers) and metaphorical uses (data leaks, information leaks), maintaining its core idea of slow, passive escape rather than intentional release.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "leaking" and can often be used interchangeably.
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Words that rhyme with "leaking"
-ing sounds
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