levee
/ˈlɛvi//ˈlɛvi/
levee noun: an elevated ridge of deposited sediment on the banks of a river, formed by the river's overflow at times of high discharge.
Noun (1)
levee (plural levees)
- An elevated ridge of deposited sediment on the banks of a river, formed by the river's overflow at times of high discharge.
- An embankment to prevent inundation; as, the levees along the Mississippi.
- The steep bank of a river.
- The purchaser of a riparious estate under the words "front to the levee," does not acquire the alluvion or batture, when there is land susceptible of separate ownership beyond the levee.1826, William Christy, A Digest of Martin's Reports
- The border of an irrigated field.
- A pier or other landing place on a river.
Verb (1)
levee (third-person singular simple present levees, present participle leveeing, simple past and past participle leveed)
- To keep within a channel by means of levees.
- to levee a river
Noun (2)
levee (plural levees)
- The act of rising; getting up, especially in the morning after rest.
- And look before you were up in the morning, though you were a punctual courtier at the sun's leveec. 1763, Thomas Gray, letter to Mr. Nichols
- The sturdy hind now attends the levee of his fellow-labourer the ox […]1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society, published 1973, page 414
- A reception of visitors held after getting up.
- A formal reception, especially one given by royalty or other leaders.
- I must take my leave, for the Cardinal holds a levee to-day, and let those fail in attendance who want nothing.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 179
- At the King's levee on the morning of the 13th, Philippe was first ignored; then asked by His Majesty (rudely) what he wanted; then told, ‘Get back where you came from.’1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, published 1993, →ISBN, page 195
Verb (2)
levee (third-person singular simple present levees, present participle leveeing, simple past and past participle leveed)
- To attend the levee or levees of.
- He levees all the great.1725–1728, [Edward Young], “(please specify the page)”, in Love of Fame, the Universal Passion. In Seven Characteristical Satires, 4th edition, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson […], published...
levee meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Kannada
levee in Hindi
- embankment to prevent inundation
- तटबंध taṭbandh, बंधा bandhā
levee in Tamil
- இயற்கையான ஆற்றங்கரை, உயர் அணைத்தொடர், வௌளக் கரை
levee in Bengali
- নদীর তীরের বাঁধ, উঁচু পথ, রাজকীয় সভা
levee in Kannada
- ಬೆಳಗಿನ ದರ್ಬಾರು, ಮುಂಜಾನೆಯ ದರ್ಬಾರು, ಪ್ರಾತಃಕಾಲದ ದರ್ಬಾರು, ತಟಬಂಧ
More languagesFewer languages
- levee in Assamese
- ঢাপ dhap
- levee in Thai
- คันดิน kan-din
Examples of levee in a sentence
- The levee has been severely caved by the river current.
- The heavy rains threatened to surpass the capabilities of the levee, endangering the town on the other side.
- The river overflowed the levee into the road.
Synonyms of levee
Forms of levee
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | levees |
| alternative uncommon | levée |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | levees |
| present participle | leveeing |
| past participle | leveed |
| past | leveed |
Origin of levee
From French levée, from lever (“to raise, rise”).
From French levé variant of the noun lever (“the act of getting up in the morning”).
Words formed from levee
Words that rhyme with levee
Questions about levee
- What does levee mean?
- Levee means an elevated ridge of deposited sediment on the banks of a river, formed by the river's overflow at times of high discharge.
- What is levee in Hindi?
- Levee in Hindi is तटबंध (taṭbandh), बंधा (bandhā). See Levee meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is levee?
- Levee can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce levee?
- Levee is pronounced /ˈlɛvi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of levee?
- The plural of levee is levees.
Words near levee in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: levee (page history and authors); levee (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); levee (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); levee (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ঢাপ (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-levee.wav, En-us-levee.ogg.
Cite this entry: “levee.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/levee. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.