levee

1 of 3

noun (1)

le·​vee ˈle-vē 

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 royal representative receives only men

3

: a reception usually in honor of a particular person

… the years of levees and parades and other suave peacetime occasions.

—Gladys B. Stern

levee

2 of 3

noun (2)

lev·​ee ˈle-vē 

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 

leveed; leveeing

transitive verb

: to provide with a levee

Synonyms of levee

Noun (2)

• dam
• embankment

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

Farther down, the levee that restrains the rivers is a low line of trees into the horizon. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 20 Sep. 2026

Made to resemble the town’s levee (which held during the Flood of 1993), a full pie is loaded with 18 fresh apples and weighs a whopping 10 pounds. — Erika Ebsworth-Goold, Travel + Leisure, 19 Sep. 2026

Verb

In 1955, a Christmas Eve levee failure at Shanghai Bend on the Feather River inundated 90% of Yuba City and killed 38. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 20 Sep. 2026

In Hawaii, levee failures left communities exposed to flooding and long-term damage. — Gregg Herrin, Fortune, 13 June 2026

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

Rhymes for levee

• bevy
• chevy
• heavy
• levy
• replevy

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