lee
1 Americannoun
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protective shelter.
The lee of the rock gave us some protection against the storm.
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the side or part that is sheltered or turned away from the wind.
We erected our huts under the lee of the mountain.
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Chiefly Nautical. the quarter or region toward which the wind blows.
adjective
idioms
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by the lee, accidentally against what should be the lee side of a sail.
Careless steering brought the wind by the lee.
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under the lee, to leeward.
noun
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Ann, 1736–84, British mystic: founder of Shaker sect in the United States.
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Charles, 1731–82, American Revolutionary general, born in England.
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Doris Emrick 1905–1986, U.S. painter.
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Fitzhugh 1835–1905, U.S. general and statesman (grandson of Henry Lee; nephew of Robert E. Lee).
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Francis Lightfoot 1734–97, American Revolutionary statesman (brother of Richard H. Lee).
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Gypsy Rose Rose Louise Hovick, 1914–70, U.S. entertainer.
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Harper, 1926–2016, U.S. novelist.
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Henry Light-Horse Harry, 1756–1818, American Revolutionary general (father of Robert E. Lee).
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Kuan Yew 1923–2015, Singapore political leader: prime minister 1959–90.
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Manfred Bennington Ellery Queen, 1905–71, U.S. mystery writer, in collaboration with Frederic Dannay.
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Richard Henry, 1732–94, American Revolutionary statesman (brother of Francis L. Lee).
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Robert E(dward), 1807–70, U.S. soldier and educator: Confederate general in the American Civil War (son of Henry Lee).
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Sir Sidney, 1859–1926, English biographer and critic.
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Spike Shelton Jackson Lee, born 1957, U.S. film director, screenwriter, and actor.
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Tsung-Dao born 1926, Chinese physicist in the United States: Nobel Prize 1957.
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a town in western Massachusetts: part of the Berkshire resort area.
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a male or female given name.
noun
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Ang (æŋ). born 1954, Taiwanese film director; his films include Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and Life of Pi (2012)
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Bruce, original name Lee Yuen Kam . 1940–73, US film actor and kung fu expert who starred in such films as Enter the Dragon (1973)
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Gypsy Rose, original name Rose Louise Hovick . 1914–70, US striptease and burlesque artiste, who appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies (1936) and in films
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Laurie (ˈlɒrɪ). 1914–97, British poet and writer, best known for the autobiographical Cider with Rosie (1959)
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Richard Henry. 1732–94, American Revolutionary statesman, who moved the resolution in favour of American independence (1776)
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Robert E ( dward ). 1807–70, American general; commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies in the Civil War
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Spike, real name Shelton Jackson Lee. born 1957, US film director: his films include She's Gotta Have It (1985), Malcolm X (1992), and the documentary When the Leeves Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2008)
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T ( sung ) -D ( ao ) (tsuːŋ daʊ). born 1926, US physicist, born in China. With Yang he disproved the principle that that parity is always conserved and shared the Nobel prize for physics in 1957
noun
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a sheltered part or side; the side away from the direction from which the wind is blowing
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nautical so that the wind is blowing on the wrong side of the sail
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nautical towards the lee
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of lee
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English hlēo(w) “shelter covering, protection,” cognate with Old Frisian hli, hly, Old Saxon hleo, Old Norse hlé
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Because of the south-easterly wind direction, places like Aultbea lie in the lee of the Cairngorm mountains, this is called the Fohn effect.
From BBC
In the lee of a boulder, a circle of sphinxes was eating something meaty and unidentifiable, tearing at it with teeth as long as his fingers and twice as thick.
From Literature
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She pulled Natalie in close, and they hid as best they could in the lee of a solar water heater.
From Literature
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Finally, he drew up in the lee of a large berg and shouted to Worsley to go back and help the other boat.
From Literature
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Plug settled himself in the lee of the house, out of the wind.
From Literature
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.