Adjacent Words

Levee definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LEV'EE, n. [L. levo.]
1. The time of rising.
2. The concourse of persons who visit a prince or great personage in the morning.
3. A bank or causey, particularly along a river to prevent inundation; as the levees along the Mississippi.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a formal reception of visitors or guests (as at a royal court)
2: a pier that provides a landing place on a river
3: an embankment that is built in order to prevent a river from overflowing

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: French lever, from Middle French, act of arising, from (se) lever to rise Date: 1672 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 II. noun Etymology: French levée, from Old French, act of raising, from lever to raise — more at lever Date: circa 1720 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 III. transitive verb (leveed; leveeing) Date: 1832 to provide with a levee

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 archaic or US an assembly of visitors or guests, esp. at a formal reception. 2 hist. (in the UK) an assembly held by the sovereign or sovereign's representative at which men only were received. 3 hist. a reception of visitors on rising from bed. Etymology: F levé var. of lever rising f. lever to rise: see LEVY 2. n. US 1 an embankment against river floods. 2 a natural embankment built up by a river. 3 a landing-place, a quay. Etymology: F levée fem. past part. of lever raise: see LEVY

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Levee Lev"ee (l[e^]v"[-e]; often l[e^]v*[=e]" in U. S.), n. [F. lever, fr. lever to raise, se lever to rise. See Lever, n.] 1. The act of rising. `` The sun's levee.'' --Gray. 2. A morning assembly or reception of visitors, -- in distinction from a soir['e]e, or evening assembly; a matin['e]e; hence, also, any general or somewhat miscellaneous gathering of guests, whether in the daytime or evening; as, the president's levee. Note: In England a ceremonious day reception, when attended by both ladies and gentlemen, is called a drawing-room.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Levee Lev"ee, v. t. To attend the levee or levees of. He levees all the great. --Young.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Levee Lev"ee, n. [F. lev['e]e, fr. lever to raise. See Lever, and cf. Levy.] An embankment to prevent inundation; as, the levees along the Mississippi; sometimes, the steep bank of a river. [U. S.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Levee Lev"ee, v. t. To keep within a channel by means of levees; as, to levee a river. [U. S.]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Time of rising. 2. [U. S.] Ceremonious party, reception, entertainment, soirée. 3. [Europe.] Morning reception (by a prince or great personage). 4. [U. S.] Embankment (along a river to prevent inundation).

Moby Thesaurus

affair, arch dam, assemblee, assembly, assignation, at home, backstop, ball, bamboo curtain, bank, bar, barrage, barrier, bear-trap dam, beaver dam, berth, boom, brawl, breakwater, breastwork, brick wall, buffer, bulkhead, bulwark, caucus, cofferdam, colloquium, commission, committee, conclave, concourse, congregation, congress, conventicle, convention, convocation, council, dam, dance, date, defense, diet, dike, ditch, dock, earthwork, eisteddfod, embankment, fence, festivity, fete, forgathering, forum, gate, gathering, get-together, gravity dam, groin, housewarming, hydraulic-fill dam, iron curtain, jam, jetty, leaping weir, logjam, matinee, meet, meeting, milldam, moat, mole, mound, panel, parapet, party, plenum, portcullis, prom, quay, quorum, rally, rampart, reception, rendezvous, reunion, roadblock, rock-fill dam, salon, seance, seawall, session, shindig, shutter dam, sit-in, sitting, slip, sociable, social, social affair, social gathering, soiree, stews, stone wall, symposium, synod, tenderloin, turnout, wake, wall, weir, wicket dam, work