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 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 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

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

Sacramento police are investigating the death of a man whose body was discovered Saturday evening near a levee close to the 50 block of Main Avenue. —The Sacramento Bee, Sacbee.com, 29 June 2025

The Trinity River in Dallas overflows its banks and is contained by the levees after historic rainfall in August 2022. —Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 June 2025

Verb

The flood cycle is longer on the channeled and leveed Mississippi, which is fed by numerous tributaries. —Amy Graff, New York Times, 3 May 2025

Areas on the northern periphery of Lake Pontchartrain will be at higher risk for inundation because that part is not as heavily leveed as the southern end. —NBC News, 12 Sep. 2024

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