levee

1 of 3

noun (1)

le·​vee ˈle-vē How to pronounce levee (audio)
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 occasionsGladys B. Stern

levee

2 of 3

noun (2)

lev·​ee ˈle-vē How to pronounce levee (audio)
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 How to pronounce levee (audio)
leveed; leveeing

transitive verb

: to provide with a levee

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
Land subsidence has required costly repairs of levees, canals and other infrastructure, with public agencies footing the bill. Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 22 June 2024 The plan was to start small, with 175 acres west of the Chouteau Bridge, and expand from there east and west as money was found for adding roads and trails and facilities that would be accessed from a road along the top of the flood levee to be renamed Riverfront Drive. Mike Hendricks, Kansas City Star, 14 June 2024 That includes Guttenberg Ponds in Clayton County, Iowa, where a levee protecting a wetland area from the river's main channel has been degrading over time, repairs for which have been costly. Madeline Heim, Journal Sentinel, 24 May 2024 The result will be greater expenses for taxpayers down the road, since retroactively fitting a levee or a bridge, for instance, is typically far more expensive than building resilient infrastructure. Alice Hill, Foreign Affairs, 3 Apr. 2023 See all Example Sentences for levee 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'levee.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of levee was in 1672

Dictionary Entries Near levee

Cite this Entry

“Levee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/levee. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on levee

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