levee Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Lev"ee noun
Etymology
F. lever, fr. lever to raise, se lever to rise. See Lever, n.
Definitions
  1. The act of rising. " The sun's levee." Gray.
  2. A morning assembly or reception of visitors, -- in distinction from a soirée, or evening assembly; a matinée; hence, also, any general or somewhat miscellaneous gathering of guests, whether in the daytime or evening; as, the president's levee. ✍ In England a ceremonious day reception, when attended by both ladies and gentlemen, is called a drawing-room.
Lev"ee transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To attend the levee or levees of.
    He levees all the great. Young.
Lev"ee noun
Etymology
F. levée, fr. lever to raise. See Lever, and cf. Levy.
Definitions
  1. An embankment to prevent inundation; as, the levees along the Mississippi; sometimes, the steep bank of a river. U. S.
Lev"ee transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To keep within a channel by means of levees; as, to levee a river. U. S.

Webster 1913