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levee

 - 7 dictionary results
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lev⋅ee

1  [lev-ee] noun, verb, lev⋅eed, lev⋅ee⋅ing.
Use levee in a Sentence
–noun
1. an embankment designed to prevent the flooding of a river.
2. Geology. natural levee.
3. Agriculture. one of the small continuous ridges surrounding fields that are to be irrigated.
4. History/Historical. a landing place for ships; quay.
–verb (used with object)
5. to furnish with a levee: to levee a treacherous stream.
Origin:
1710–20, Americanism; < F levée < ML levāta embankment, n. use of fem. ptp. of L levāre to raise, orig. lighten, akin to levis light, not heavy
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lev⋅ee

2  [lev-ee, le-vee]
–noun
1. (in Great Britain) a public court assembly, held in the early afternoon, at which men only are received.
2. a reception, usually in someone's honor: a presidential levee at the White House.
3. History/Historical. a reception of visitors held on rising from bed, as formerly by a royal or other personage.
Origin:
1665–75; < F levé, var. sp. of lever rising (n. use of inf.) < L levāre to raise; see levee 1

natural levee

 
–noun
a deposit of sand or mud built up along, and sloping away from, either side of the flood plain of a river or stream.
Also called levee.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To levee
lev·ee 1   (lěv'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   (lěv'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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

levee 
1719, "natural or artificial embankment to prevent overflow of a river," from New Orleans Fr. levée "raising, lifting, embankment," from Fr., originally fem. pp. of lever "to raise," from L. levare "to raise" (see lever). In an earlier sense borrowed from the lit. Fr. meaning, it was used for "morning assembly held by a prince or king (upon rising from bed)," 1672.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

levee

any low ridge or earthen embankment built along the edges of a stream or river channel to prevent flooding of the adjacent land. Artificial levees are typically needed to control the flow of rivers meandering through broad, flat floodplains. Levees are usually embankments of dirt built wide enough so that they will not collapse or be eroded when saturated with moisture from rivers running at unusually high levels. Grass or some other matlike vegetation is planted on the top of the levee's bank so that its erosion will be kept to a minimum.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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