ley

[ ley ]

/ leɪ /

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noun

a pewter containing about 80 percent tin and 20 percent lead.

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Origin of ley

Aphetic variant of obsolete aleyalloy

Words nearby ley

lexis, lex loci, lex non scripta, lex scripta, lex talionis, ley, Leyden, Leyden jar, Leydig cell, ley farming, Leyland

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

How to use ley in a sentence

Names ending in ley generally came into existence in the same way, a ley being also a shelter for domestic animals.
Stories That Words Tell Us|Elizabeth O'Neill
Que la ley slica, que dizien, es baya, y las armas la allanarian.
History of the Rise of the Huguenots|Henry Baird
The grapes are collected and dipped in a weak ley, with which a small quantity of olive-oil has been mixed.
Letters from Palestine|J. D. Paxton
Nankeens look best, washed in suds, with a teacup of ley added for each pailful.
A Treatise on Domestic Economy|Catherine Esther Beecher

Soak new nankeens in ley, for one night, and it sets the color perfectly.
A Treatise on Domestic Economy|Catherine Esther Beecher

British Dictionary definitions for ley

ley

/ (leɪ, liː) /

noun

arable land put down to grass; grassland or pastureland

Also called: ley line a line joining two prominent points in the landscape, thought to be the line of a prehistoric track

Word Origin for ley

C14: variant of lea 1

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