lek

¹ American  

[lek] / lɛk /

noun

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

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verb (used without object)

lekked, lekking

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

lek ² American  

[lek] / lɛk /

noun

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

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Lek ³ American  

[lek] / lɛk /

noun

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

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lek ¹ British  

/ lɛk /

noun

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

2. the act or practice of so gathering

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lek ² British  

/ lɛk /

noun

1. the standard monetary unit of Albania, divided into 100 qindarka

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Etymology

Origin of lek¹

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

Origin of lek²

Borrowed into English from Albanian around 1925–30

Example Sentences

On April 23, Vold took the Statesman to an Owyhees lek before dawn.

From Seattle Times • May 27, 2024

These wild chickens are figuratively as well as literally colorful: When the males decide to court females, they gather in an area of either bare ground or short foliage called a "booming groundor lek."

From Salon • Jun. 26, 2023

A third type of polygyny is a lek system.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

In a lek, each male has a territory, and the females shop around.

From New York Times • Feb. 5, 2019

When they were done, they followed us on the path, singing one of S. E. Rogie’s songs, “Nor look me bad eye, nor weigh me lek dat...”

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah