levee.

1. A raised bank along a river or water body that helps prevent flooding.

2. A formal reception, traditionally held by a ruler or a prominent official.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• river levee
• levee breach

On the page

Volunteers piled sandbags along the weakened levee.

Usage notes

Primary category: setting / environment. Forms: Singular levee; plural levees. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: setting, description. Commonness: moderately common.