Thesaurus results for LEVEES

levees

noun

plural of levee

as in dams

a bank of earth constructed to control water the raging floodwaters were too much for the levee to handle

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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

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of levees Currently, only around 15% of Pennsylvania’s levees are accredited by FEMA. — Kaleigh Yost, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026 Before floodwater began to rise, Abigail Erikson hadn’t planned to spend hours filling sandbags to save the community of Rocky Ripple as levees threatened failure. — Jen Guadarrama, IndyStar, 20 Aug. 2026 Another problem human measures like dams and levees seem to have created, the team argues, is a perception of safety. — Christopher McFadden, Interesting Engineering, 9 Aug. 2026 The failure of the New Orleans levees caused the city to flood, hitting poorer Black neighborhoods particularly hard. — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026 Presidio is protected by a series of berms and levees built in the 1970s and 1980s along the Rio Grande and tributaries to combat flooding. — Rebecca Santana, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026 The other is the data gap itself, with unreliable or incomplete records common across stormwater systems, levees, schools and other sectors. — Dara-Abasi Ita, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026 The town is worried about the effect the wall would have on a series of berms and levees built in the 1970s and 1980s along the Rio Grande and tributaries to combat flooding. — ABC News, 22 July 2026 In the early hours of July 13, 1951 — a day now remembered as Black Friday — water breached the levees protecting Argentine, then swept into Armourdale, the West Bottoms, and the Fairfax industrial district. — Michelle Oliva-Espinosa, Kansas City Star, 18 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for levees

Noun

Detectives drained three dams, searched six mineshafts and sent up drones with specialized cameras to take detailed imagery, later analyzed with artificial intelligence.

— Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026
Their operators, the state Department of Water Resources and the Yuba Water Agency, release what the dams cannot hold.

— Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of dams

Noun

But in 1820, Shippingport had about 600 residents, three wharves for steamboats, taverns and a flour mill.

— Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 16 Aug. 2026
The redevelopment would change that by extending and upgrading existing wharves and dredging areas around the docks.

— David Nikel, Forbes.com, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of wharves

Noun

How levees work Levees are earthen embankments positioned parallel to a river that effectively raise the height of the banks of the river to prevent overflow when the river swells.

— Kaleigh Yost, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026
Ewa Mroczkowska’s production design also turns dewy embankments, decadent interiors, and sunrises over cemeteries into visions of storybook-like decay.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of embankments

Noun

Some of the mansions even come with private tunnels running under A1A, allowing residents to reach their docks without emerging to cross the two-lane road.

— Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 11 Sep. 2026
And some waterfront residents have been known to illegally destroy wild rice plants near their docks intentionally to make room for their boats.

— Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of docks

Noun

Under Spanish rule, able-bodied Malay men, from teenagers to adults, were required to perform 40 days of unpaid annual labor on roads, bridges, churches, forts, piers, plantations, haciendas and mines.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
People are advised to stay out of the water and away from rocks, jetties, piers and other infrastructure near the ocean, the agency says.

— Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of piers

Noun

Wine is embedded in the city’s architecture, history and daily life, from grand 18th-century façades to the bustling quays of the Garonne.

— Joanne Shurvell, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
According to Vantor, the image shows the construction of a dry dock and new quays and piers at one of China’s most strategically important bases.

— Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 8 Dec. 2025

Definition of quays

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“Levees.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/levees. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of levees

noun

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