lek

[ lek ]

/ lɛk /

Animal Behavior

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noun

a traditional place where males assemble during the mating season and engage in competitive displays that attract females.

verb (used without object), lekked, lek·king.

(of a male) to assemble in a lek and engage in competitive displays.

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Origin of lek

1865–70; <Swedish: mating ground (perhaps elliptically from lekställe), mating, game, play, Old Norse leikr play, cognate with Old English lāc struggle, offering, gift, Gothic laiks dance, Old High German leih melody

Words nearby lek

Leitrim, Leix, Leizhou, Leizhou Peninsula, Le Jeune, lek, lekgotla, lekker, lekvar, lekythos, lekythus

Other definitions for lek (2 of 3)

lek²

[ lek ]

/ lɛk /

noun

an aluminum coin and monetary unit of Albania, equal to 100 qintars.

Origin of lek

Borrowed into English from Albanian around 1925–30

Other definitions for lek (3 of 3)

Lek

[ lek ]

/ lɛk /

noun

a river in the central Netherlands, flowing W to the Meuse River; the N branch of the lower Rhine. 40 miles (64 km) long.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lek in a sentence

She spends much of her time there worrying about the future of the local Gunnison sage grouse population, which has returned to its lek, or mating grounds, on her father’s land for as long as she can remember.
‘Site Fidelity’ Explores Why We Fight for the Places We Love|smurguia|July 16, 2021|Outside Online
The Ritz hired Thai architect Lek Bunnag for the grounds and IA49 as the interior designer.
Gal with a Suitcase|Jolie Hunt|April 18, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Acatalectic, a-kat-a-lek′tik, adj. having the complete number of syllables as a verse: without defect.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various
Dat's de fines' hawse dat dis chile ebber seen, an' I'se gwan ter watch ober heem lek he wus de apple ob mah eye.
Frank Merriwell's Races|Burt L. Standish

Lek had travelled much over Germany, but he had never before seen a town like the one below him.
ZigZag Journeys in Northern Lands;|Hezekiah Butterworth
He strode away towards a faded cottage on the outskirts of the town, leaving Lek to wonder what his mysterious answer could mean.
ZigZag Journeys in Northern Lands;|Hezekiah Butterworth
Away hobbled the dame; and Lek, wondering at her answer, entered what seemed to him the principal street.
ZigZag Journeys in Northern Lands;|Hezekiah Butterworth

British Dictionary definitions for lek (1 of 2)

lek¹

/ (lɛk) /

noun

a small area in which birds of certain species, notably the black grouse, gather for sexual display and courtship

the act or practice of so gathering

Word Origin for lek

C19: perhaps from dialect lake (vb) from Old English lácan to frolic, fight, or perhaps from Swedish leka to play

British Dictionary definitions for lek (2 of 2)

lek²

/ (lɛk) /

noun

the standard monetary unit of Albania, divided into 100 qindarka

Word Origin for lek

from Albanian

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