levee


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Related to levee: Hurricane Katrina, natural levee

levee

embankment to prevent flooding: The levee might fail in hurricane conditions.
Not to be confused with:
levy – to impose a tax: to levy a duty on imports; the amount owed or collected; the conscription of troops
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

lev·ee 1

 (lĕv′ē)
n.
1. An embankment raised to prevent a river from overflowing.
2. A small ridge or raised area bordering an irrigated field.
3. A landing place on a river; a pier.
tr.v. lev·eed, lev·ee·ing, lev·ees
To provide with a levee.
[French levée, from Old French levee, from feminine past participle of lever, to raise; see lever.]

lev·ee 2

 (lĕv′ē, lə-vē′, -vā′)
n.
1. A reception held, as by royalty, upon arising from bed.
2. A formal reception, as at a royal court.
[From French lever, a rising, from Old French, from lever, to raise, rise; see lever.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

levee

(ˈlɛvɪ)
n
1. (Physical Geography) an embankment alongside a river, produced naturally by sedimentation or constructed by man to prevent flooding
2. (Agriculture) an embankment that surrounds a field that is to be irrigated
3. a landing place on a river; quay
[C18: from French, from Medieval Latin levāta, from Latin levāre to raise]

levee

(ˈlɛvɪ; ˈlɛveɪ)
n
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a formal reception held by a sovereign just after rising from bed
2. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) (in Britain) a public court reception for men, held in the early afternoon
[C17: from French, variant of lever a rising, from Latin levāre to raise]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lev•ee1

(ˈlɛv i)
n.
1. an embankment designed to prevent the flooding of a river.
2. a natural deposit of sand or mud built up along the side of a river or stream.
3. one of the small continuous ridges surrounding fields that are to be irrigated.
4. a landing place for ships.
v.t.
5. to furnish with a levee.
[1710–20; < French levée < Medieval Latin levāta embankment, n. use of feminine past participle of Latin levāre to raise (see lever)]

lev•ee2

(ˈlɛv i, lɛˈvi)

n.
1. (in Great Britain) a public court assembly, held in the early afternoon, at which men only are received.
2. a formal reception, usu. in someone's honor: a presidential levee; the Governor General's levee.
3. (formerly) a reception of visitors held on rising from bed, as by a royal personage.
[1665–75; < French levé, variant sp. of lever rising < Latin levāre to raise; see levee1]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

lev·ee

(lĕv′ē)
A long ridge of sand, silt, and clay built up by a river along its banks, especially during floods.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Levee

 a reception of ten held in the morning; any miscellaneous gathering of guests, 1672.
Example: levees of ministers, 1874.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.levee - a formal reception of visitors or guests (as at a royal court)
reception - a formal party of people; as after a wedding
2.levee - a pier that provides a landing place on a river
pier, wharf, wharfage, dock - a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
3.levee - an embankment that is built in order to prevent a river from overflowinglevee - an embankment that is built in order to prevent a river from overflowing
embankment - a long artificial mound of stone or earth; built to hold back water or to support a road or as protection
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

levee

1 [ˈleveɪ] N (Hist) (= reception) → besamanos m inv, recepción f

levee

2 [ˈlevɪ] N (= bank) → ribero m, dique m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

levee

1
n (Hist) (on awakening) → Lever nt; (at British court) → Nachmittagsempfang m

levee

2
n → Damm m, → Deich m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

levee

[ˈlɛvɪ] n (esp Am) → argine m
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
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Simon Legree, Tom's master, had purchased slaves at one place and another, in New Orleans, to the number of eight, and driven them, handcuffed, in couples of two and two, down to the good steamer Pirate, which lay at the levee, ready for a trip up the Red river.
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Pratt about the great event of the day, the levee of the distinguished foreigners at Aunt Patsy Cooper's.
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After his levee, that is to say, giving directions about the labors of the next day, and seeing all the peasants who had business with him, Levin went back to his study and sat down to work.
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It was granted, and was to take place after her morning's "levee," at which, in accordance with his rights of birth, he was entitled to be present.
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The sturdy hind now attends the levee of his fellow-labourer the ox; the cunning artificer, the diligent mechanic, spring from their hard mattress; and now the bonny housemaid begins to repair the disordered drum-room, while the riotous authors of that disorder, in broken interrupted slumbers, tumble and toss, as if the hardness of down disquieted their repose.
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An automobile bumped along on top of the levee, and the young boys and girls in it cried, "Oh, you kid!" to Saxon and Billy, and Hastings, who was rowing them ashore in the skiff.
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On a fine Sunday in term time, it is quite a Levee--quite a Levee. Amy, my dear, I have been trying half the day to remember the name of the gentleman from Camberwell who was introduced to me last Christmas week by that agreeable coal- merchant who was remanded for six months.'
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The company then rode on to the Mansion House, where the King held high levee through all the noon hours, and the whole town made a holiday.
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This being a central quarter, he quickly made a very large connection; and on levee days, was sometimes known to have as many as twenty half-pay officers waiting their turn for polishing.
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I used to attend the king's levee once or twice a week, and had often seen him under the barber's hand, which indeed was at first very terrible to behold; for the razor was almost twice as long as an ordinary scythe.
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Reclining upon our mats, we now held a kind of levee, giving audience to successive troops of the natives, who introduced themselves to us by pronouncing their respective names, and retired in high good humour on receiving ours in return.
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"At my wife's door, whose levee he is probably awaiting."
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