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

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Zone four, which consists of the entire south island and the areas occupied by earthen levees , will become available for development after the project is finished and the levees are removed. Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 Mar. 2024 The incident occurred around 6:45 p.m. Saturday on an American River levee along the 700 block of North 5th Street. Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee, 5 Feb. 2024 Assembly of the levee took two hours and went off without a hitch. John Muyskens, Washington Post, 19 Dec. 2023 The Army Corps of Engineers has been extending an underwater levee in the river to slow the advance of the saltwater, while parish officials upstream work to build pipeline systems that can draw freshwater into their intakes. Ritu Prasad, CNN, 11 Oct. 2023 Ellen Louise Gilchrist was born in Vicksburg, Miss., on Feb. 20, 1935, the daughter of William Garth Gilchrist Jr., an engineer who helped build levees for the Army Corps of Engineers, and Aurora Alford Gilchrist. Adam Nossiter, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2024 Protecting the region’s cities from flooding, meanwhile, will require spending billions more dollars to bolster aging dirt levees and channels. Jake Bittle, WIRED, 6 Jan. 2024 Many of the investments the city made after Hurricane Sandy — like constructing floodwalls, berms and levees — are geared to managing coastal flooding and sea level rise, not extreme precipitation. Denise Chow, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2023 The project aims bolster Fort Worth’s flood protection by replacing the city’s 1960’s era Trinity River levee system with a bypass channel north of downtown. Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 8 Feb. 2024
Verb
The state will shoulder the $17 million needed to raise the 14.5-mile Corcoran levee an additional four feet, protecting the city from rising floodwaters. Elvia Limón, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2023 The joint state-federal Flood Operations Center, which has been activated since early March, is also continuing to respond to levee concerns along the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, said Arrich, of water resources department. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2023 That will slightly reduce the flow out of the river, but work to build up the wall to levee height is expected to take one to two weeks, Monterey County said. Phil Helsel, NBC News, 15 Mar. 2023 Not to federal officials who decades ago flagged the Pajaro River earthen levee as needing repair. Nora Mishanec, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 Mar. 2023 At its meeting on March 1, the council voted in favor of the proposal, which would enable town staff to more quickly levee the fines, avoiding the current process which requires multiple complaints, and judicial actions that sometimes take months. Steve Smith, courant.com, 19 Mar. 2021

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 19 Mar. 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

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