levee

1 of 3

noun (1)

le·​vee ˈle-vē 

lə-ˈvē,

-ˈvā

1

: a reception held by a person of distinction on rising from bed

2

: an afternoon assembly at which the British sovereign or his or her representative receives only men

3

: a reception usually in honor of a particular person

the years of levees and parades and other suave peacetime occasions

—Gladys B. Stern

levee

2 of 3

noun (2)

lev·​ee ˈle-vē 

1

a

: an embankment for preventing flooding

b

: a river landing place : pier

2

: a continuous dike or ridge (as of earth) for confining the irrigation areas of land to be flooded

levee

3 of 3

verb

lev·​ee ˈle-vē 

leveed; leveeing

transitive verb

: to provide with a levee

Synonyms

Noun (2)

• dam
• dike
• embankment
• head

Examples of levee in a Sentence

Noun (2)

the raging floodwaters were too much for the levee to handle

we tied the boat up at the levee and started unloading the fish we had caught

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But infrastructure decisions—be it dams and levees or new housing developments in floodplains—can play a part in how devastating, or not, that event might be. —Anna Gordon, TIME, 18 Sep. 2024

While almost all of the dams, levees and infrastructure held during Norbert, the water pumps on some of the major highways failed to remove water quickly enough. —Hayleigh Evans, The Arizona Republic, 11 Sep. 2024

When Hurricane Ida struck the Gulf Coast, the insurance industry found that the $14 billion spent on New Orleans’ levees after Hurricane Katrina had paid off. —Patrik Jonsson, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Aug. 2024

But the five-member board found local plans didn’t include adequate measures to address declines in water levels or the problem of sinking ground, which has repeatedly damaged levees. —Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

French lever, from Middle French, act of arising, from (se) lever to rise

Noun (2)

French levée, from Old French, act of raising, from lever to raise — more at lever

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1672, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

circa 1720, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1832, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

levee

noun

lev·​ee

ˈlev-ē

1

: a bank built along a river to prevent flooding

2

: a landing place along a river