the.com/leech
a slimy little vampire that doctors still keep on payroll.
means A blood-sucking aquatic worm once used in medicine to drain blood — and, by extension, a person who clings to others to drain their resources.
from From Old English 'læce,' which strikingly meant both 'physician' and the worm itself — because for centuries the doctor and the bloodletting creature were practically the same profession. The two senses likely tangled together early: an Old English root tied to healing, and the worm named for its place in that healing trade. The figurative 'parasite who sponges off you' sense crawled in later, the worm's habits proving an irresistible metaphor.
- three jaws
- 100 tiny teeth saw your skin open
- FDA approved
- medical device since 2004, blood unsticking
- hidden anesthetic
- saliva numbs the bite so you don't notice
- big appetite
- can drink ten times its body weight
- many hearts
- some species pump blood with 32 hearts
hirudo medicinalis — european medical leech used in reconstructive surgery to restore blood flow in reattached fingers and ears since the 1980s
amazon river leech — haementeria ghilianii species that infests swimmers in south america and can cause severe blood loss
texas leech — macrobdella texana found in freshwater streams of texas and used medicinally for similar purposes as medical leeches