levee

¹

[lev-ee]

noun

1. an embankment designed to prevent the flooding of a river.

2. Geology.,  natural levee.

3. Agriculture.,  one of the small continuous ridges surrounding fields that are to be irrigated.

4. History/Historical.,  a landing place for ships; quay.

verb (used with object)

leveed, leveeing 

1. to furnish with a levee.

   to levee a treacherous stream.

levee

²

[lev-ee, le-vee]

noun

1. (in Great Britain) a public court assembly, held in the early afternoon, at which men only are received.

2. a reception, usually in someone's honor.

   a presidential levee at the White House.

3. History/Historical.,  a reception of visitors held on rising from bed, as formerly by a royal or other personage.

levee

¹

/ ˈlɛvɪ /

noun

1. an embankment alongside a river, produced naturally by sedimentation or constructed by man to prevent flooding

2. an embankment that surrounds a field that is to be irrigated

3. a landing place on a river; quay

levee

²

/ ˈlɛvɪ, ˈlɛveɪ /

noun

1. a formal reception held by a sovereign just after rising from bed

2. (in Britain) a public court reception for men, held in the early afternoon

levee

1. A long ridge of sand, silt, and clay built up by a river along its banks, especially during floods.

2. An artificial embankment along a rivercourse or an arm of the sea, built to protect adjoining land from inundation.

Word History and Origins

Origin of levee¹

An Americanism dating back to 1710–20; from French levée past participle of lever “to raise”; levee ² ( def. ), lever

Origin of levee²

First recorded in 1665–75; from French levé, variant spelling of lever “rising (from bed)” (noun use of infinitive); levee ¹, lever

Word History and Origins

Origin of levee¹

C18: from French, from Medieval Latin levāta, from Latin levāre to raise

Origin of levee²

C17: from French, variant of lever a rising, from Latin levāre to raise

Example Sentences

More than half a million Californians live among waterways in low-lying towns of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, where 1,100 miles of levees made of dirt and rocks protect homes from nearby rivers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He is at the mercy of such routines until his area gets proper storm drains and levees.

Read more on BBC

They say the state should instead invest in different types of solutions, including recycling more wastewater, storing more water underground and strengthening aging levees in the Delta.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A levee system constructed to divert storm waters away from New Orleans burst in multiple places, sending floodwaters pouring into residential areas, the cause of most of the lives lost.

Read more on BBC

Homes in large portions of California’s Central Valley have been sinking, as have roads, bridges, canals and levees, as too much water is drawn out of underground aquifers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dam