lee
noun
protective shelter.
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lee
1 American
[lee]
/ li /
noun
-
lees
plural
-
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.
Lee
2
American
[lee]
/ li /
noun
-
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.
-
a male or female given name.
Lee
1
British
/ liː /
noun
-
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
lee
2
British
/ liː /
noun
-
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
-
nautical towards the lee
adjective
Lee
3
British
/ liː /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
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 ● Feb. 6, 2026
“I’m absolutely convinced that the tragedy was the result of wind and snow deposition, and the fact that they pitched camp in the lee of a ridge,” Wilkinson adds.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 28, 2021
“The holloway is absence,” Macfarlane explains; “a wood-way worn away by buried feet. … Walking, running, hiding man, huddled in the lee of a tree.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2020
No mayday call was picked up after the Destination left the lee of St. George Island and entered turbulent seas.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 10, 2019
I lodged in a dreary overpriced inn crouching in the lee of the Towers.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Robert Lee Williams, an incarcerated journalist, wrote about this story and the recent issues plaguing New York’s prison system for Slate.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
When Lee started to feel sick at Medoc, she skipped a few of the châteaus and drank water instead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Farage said his party was exploring options with third countries over renting prison spaces, including El Salvador, which he said Reform chairman Lee Anderson would visit soon for initial talks.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Visitors can trade $5 for a small black sphinx, a replica of sculptor Lee Lawrie’s Belgian black marble and bronze sphinxes that flank the north staircase on the library’s second floor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Billy Lee asked Washington if a woman named Margaret Thomas, whom he had met during the war, could join him in Mount Vernon.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Aged 3-4 years on the lees, this opulent sparkler from a venerable Champagne house comes in an elegant flagon-shaped bottle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
Muscadet mirrors the marina freshness of oysters while adding the light richness of lees contact making a harmonious pairing.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2023
Panettone baking competitions have sprung up in Singapore and Japan, where one version is leavened with sake lees.
From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2022
In Austria, three tiers of quality — Klassik, Reserve, and Große Reserve — regulate region of origin, alcohol level, winemaking methods, and lees aging with increasing strictness.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2022
“Now,” cried the man, and he aimed a furious swipe at Lancelot’s lees.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
