Leach (verb)

1. To cause (a liquid) to run or drain off, as through porous material or small openings.
2. To remove (soluble substances) from a solid by the action of a percolating liquid.
3. To remove beneficial elements or components by a gradual process.

Origin:

1540s, from middle english lechen, leschen, from old english læccan, læscian "to water, moisten;" also "to purge, cleanse," from proto-germanic *lakkōnan (compare old frisian lēkia, dutch lekken, old high german lecchen, german lecken "to lick"), from pie root *legwh- "to moisten," with derivatives referring to fluids and liquids (compare greek legein "o moisten," latin linquere "to abandon, leave behind," welsh llawn "full" old church slavonic liza "de.w")

Examples:

1. The rainwater leached the soil and caused the nutrients to be washed away.
2. The chemicals in the pesticides leached into the groundwater.
3. The acid rain leached the minerals from the statue.
4. The soil had been leached of its nutrients due to overuse.
5. Leaching the coffee grounds before brewing reduces the acidity of the coffee.