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• lea
  lea

  noun

  a tract of open ground, especially grassland; meadow.
• Lea
  Lea

  noun

  Homer, 1876–1912, U.S. soldier and author: adviser 1911–12 to Sun Yat-sen in China.
• lea.
  lea.

  abbreviation

  league.
• LEA
  LEA

  abbreviation

  Local Education Authority

lea

¹ American  

[lee, ley] / li, leɪ /

Also ley

noun

1. a tract of open ground, especially grassland; meadow.

2. land used for a few years for pasture or for growing hay, then plowed over and replaced by another crop.

3. a crop of hay on tillable land.

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adjective

1. untilled; fallow.

lea ² American  

[lee] / li /

noun

1. a measure of yarn of varying quantity, for wool usually 80 yards (73 meters), cotton and silk 120 yards (110 meters), linen 300 yards (274 meters).

2. Textiles.

   1. a unit length used to ascertain the linear density of yarns.

   2. a count or number representing units of linear measure per pound in linen or cotton yarn.

      a 20-lea yarn.

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Lea ³ American  

[lee, lee-uh] / li, ˈli ə /

noun

1. Homer, 1876–1912, U.S. soldier and author: adviser 1911–12 to Sun Yat-sen in China.

2. a female given name, form of Leah or Lee.

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lea. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. league.

2. leather.

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lea ¹ British  

/ liː /

noun

1. poetic a meadow or field

2. land that has been sown with grass seed

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lea ² British  

/ liː /

noun

1. a unit for measuring lengths of yarn, usually taken as 80 yards for wool, 120 yards for cotton and silk, and 300 yards for linen

2. a measure of yarn expressed as the length per unit weight, usually the number of leas per pound

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LEA ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Local Education Authority

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Etymology

Origin of lea¹

before 900; Middle English lege, lei, Old English lēah; cognate with Old High German lōh, dialectal Dutch loo (as in Waterloo ), Latin lūcus

Origin of lea²

1350–1400; perhaps back formation from Middle English lese, variant of leash

Example Sentences

Last year, the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust returned 100 water voles to a stretch of the Upper River Lea, on the Ayot Estate, near Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire.

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026

The case was later reclassified to be linked with Lea County, New Mexico, because the dog was brought over by a New Mexico resident to the clinic in Texas, officials said.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

The year was 1991 and Lea Salonga already had won a Tony for her performance as the lead character in Miss Saigon - but she was still struggling to find another role.

From BBC • May 4, 2026

The stakes are further raised by a love triangle involving Florence Vassy, the brilliant chess strategist played by Lea Michele.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

“Why, uh, I stopped off at the supper on the grounds in Prairie Lea the other night. They saw me on the road and invited me to visit for a piece.”

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

Related Words

• farmland
• garden
• grassland
• green
• ground
• meadow
• pasture
• range
• terrain
• territory