Word
levee
Phoneticslev·ee
US/ˈɫɛvi/
UK/lˈɛviː/
Definition
n. a wall or embankment built to keep water from flooding an area. It is often used to protect cities near rivers.
n. an embankment or wall constructed to prevent a river or other body of water from overflowing its banks. Often used in the context of flood control and civil engineering.
Examples
“The city built a high levee to protect against the river.”
“After the heavy rains, engineers inspected the levee for any signs of structural weakness that might lead to a breach.”
“The catastrophic failure of the levee system during the hurricane led to widespread flooding, highlighting the urgent need for modern infrastructure upgrades in the region.”
Examples
simple
“The city built a high levee to protect against the river.”
contextual
“After the heavy rains, engineers inspected the levee for any signs of structural weakness that might lead to a breach.”
complex
“The catastrophic failure of the levee system during the hurricane led to widespread flooding, highlighting the urgent need for modern infrastructure upgrades in the region.”
Real-World Examples
“Branden Eastwood/AFP via Getty Images Pennsylvania has over 180 levees that span approximately 155 miles (255 kilometers) and keep its rivers from flooding.” “At the same time, there are clear limits to conventional hardware-based countermeasures, such as flood-control dams and levees.” Etymology
From French levée, from lever (“to raise, rise”).
From French levé variant of the noun lever (“the act of getting up in the morning”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/levee