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by the lee

 - 2 dictionary results

lee

1  [lee]
Use by the lee in a Sentence
–noun
1. protective shelter: The lee of the rock gave us some protection against the storm.
2. the side or part that is sheltered or turned away from the wind: We erected our huts under the lee of the mountain.
3. Chiefly Nautical. the quarter or region toward which the wind blows.
–adjective
4. pertaining to, situated in, or moving toward the lee.
—Idioms
5. by the lee, Nautical. accidentally against what should be the lee side of a sail: Careless steering brought the wind by the lee.
6. under the lee, Nautical. to leeward.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME; OE hlēo(w) shelter, c. OFris hli, hly, OS hleo, ON hlé
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

lee 
O.E. hleo "shelter," from P.Gmc. *khlewo- (cf. O.N. hle, Dan. læ, Du. lij "lee, shelter"); no known cognates outside Gmc.; original sense uncertain and may have been "warm" (cf. Ger. lau "tepid," O.N. hly "shelter, warmth"). Leeward is 1666, "situated away from the wind," opposite of the weather side of the ship; leeway (1669) is sideways drift of a ship caused by wind.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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