Synonyms of levees

levees

noun

plural of levee

1

as in dams

a bank of earth constructed to control water

the raging floodwaters were too much for the levee to handle

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dams
• embankments
• dikes
• canals
• ramparts
• barriers
• locks
• ditches
• barricades
• heads
• seawalls
• weirs
• breakwaters
• jetties
• channels
• gutters
• blocks
• earthworks
• breastworks
• troughs
• bulwarks
• sluices
• floodgates
• barrages
• stanks
• milldams

2

as in wharves

a structure used by boats and ships for taking on or landing cargo and passengers

we tied the boat up at the levee and started unloading the fish we had caught

Synonyms & Similar Words

• wharves
• docks
• piers
• quays
• jetties
• landings
• floats
• moorings
• quais
• marinas
• shipyards
• berths
• dockyards
• slips
• embarcaderos
• wharfages
• quayages

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of levees

In his view, its role is merely to maintain the levees for flood protection. — Alula Alderson, Sacbee.com, 30 June 2026

Been there as communities have tried to tame the mighty waters with levees and embankments, and battled 100-pound invasive fish. — Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 31 May 2026

Maintaining urban wetlands can help reduce flooding, protect property and recharge groundwater more effectively and for less money than building and maintaining levees. — Eric Palkovacs, The Conversation, 25 June 2026

These are fast disappearing, however, as humans drain them for development, dredge canals in them for the oil and gas industry and construct river levees, depriving them of the sediments that stop them being submerged. — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 25 May 2026

The Stillaguamish Tribe has been buying riverfront land in its traditional territory and removing levees to turn farmland into wetland with the hope of restoring Chinook. — John Ryan, NPR, 3 May 2026

Constructing protective structures such as levees and dikes can help, as can preserving natural landscapes, such as wetlands and estuaries that can act as a natural sponge to absorb floodwaters, in and near the cities, Shao and her colleagues wrote. — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 22 Apr. 2026

Another time, Healy visited New Orleans to assist with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, and the experience sent him down a path of studying the political reasons why the city’s levees hadn’t been replaced. — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 18 June 2026

Seventy-Five years ago this month, Kansas City experienced its worst natural disaster when the swollen Kansas (Kaw) River topped the levees protecting industrial districts and communities on both sides of the state line. — Kansas City Public Library Staff, Kansas City Star, 1 July 2026