levant

[ li-vant ]

verb (used without object)British Slang.
  1. to leave secretly or hurriedly to avoid paying debts.

Origin of levant

1
1750–60; perhaps <Spanish levantar to lift (Compare levantar el campo to break camp, leave), frequentative of levar<Latin levāre

Other words from levant

  • le·vant·er, noun

Words Nearby levant

Other definitions for Levant (2 of 2)

Levant
[ li-vant ]

noun
  1. the lands bordering the E shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

  2. Also called Levant morocco. a superior grade of morocco having a large and prominent grain, originally made in the Levant.

Origin of Levant

2
1490–1500; earlier levaunt<Middle French levant, noun use (with reference to rising sun) of present participle of lever to raise (se lever to rise). See lever

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How to use levant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for levant (1 of 3)

levant1

/ (lɪˈvænt) /


noun
  1. a type of leather made from the skins of goats, sheep, or seals, having a pattern of irregular creases

Origin of levant

1
C19: shortened from Levant morocco (type of leather)

British Dictionary definitions for levant (2 of 3)

levant2

/ (lɪˈvænt) /


verb
  1. (intr) British to bolt or abscond, esp to avoid paying debts

Origin of levant

2
C18: perhaps from Spanish levantar (el campo) to break (camp)

British Dictionary definitions for Levant (3 of 3)

Levant

/ (lɪˈvænt) /


noun
  1. the Levant a former name for the area of the E Mediterranean now occupied by Lebanon, Syria, and Israel

Origin of Levant

3
C15: from Old French, from the present participle of lever to raise (referring to the rising of the sun in the east), from Latin levāre

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Levant

Levant

[ (luh-vant) ]


Name for the nations on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea: Cyprus, Egypt (see also Egypt), Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.