lee
nounadjectivenounnouncommon in dialogue
- //liː//
A protected cove or harbor, out of the wind.
noun
- 1
A protected cove or harbor, out of the wind.
- 2
The side of the ship away from the wind.
- 3
A sheltered place, especially a place protected from the wind by some object; the side sheltered from the wind (see also leeside); shelter; protection.
the lee of a mountain, an island, or a ship
We lurked under lee.
Desiring me to take shelter in his lee.
He turned into Cumberland street and, going on some paces, halted in the lee of the station wall. No-one.
- 4
Calm, peace.
Etymology
From Middle English lee, from Old English hlēo, hlēow (“shelter, protection”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlaiw (whence also Proto-Slavic *xlěvъ), from Proto-Germanic *hlaiwaz (compare German Lee (“lee”), Swedish lä, Danish læ, Norwegian le, Old Norse hlé, Dutch lij), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (compare Welsh clyd (“warm, cozy”), Latin calēre (“to warm up”), Lithuanian šiltas (“warm, pleasant”), Sanskrit शरद् (śarad, “autumn”)).
adjective
- 1
Facing away from the flow of a fluid, usually air.
lee side, lee shore, lee helm
noun
- 1
obsoleteLees; dregs.
A thousand demons lurk within the lee.
noun
- 1
Variant of liobsoleteObsolete form of li (“traditional Chinese unit of distance”).
Here, after little less than a month's protracted journey over a distance, by the Chinese itinerary, of 950 lees, and by our own calculation 280 miles, from the canal, we quitted the magnificent Keang to cross the lake […]
Forms
- plural
- lees
lee · A protected cove or harbor, out of the wind.
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