lee
pronunciation
How to pronounce lee in British English:
UK [li:]
How to pronounce lee in American English:
US [li]
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- Noun:
- the side of something that is sheltered from the wind
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- Adjective:
- towards the side away from the wind
Word Origin
- lee (n.)
- Old English hleo "shelter, cover, defense, protection," from Proto-Germanic *khlewaz (cognates: Old Norse hle, Danish læ, Old Saxon hleo, Dutch lij "lee, shelter"). No known cognates outside Germanic; original sense uncertain and might have been "warm" (compare German lau "tepid," Old Norse hly "shelter, warmth"), which might link it to PIE *kele- (1) "warm." Nautical sense "that part of the hemisphere to which the wind is directed" (c. 1400) is from the notion of the side of the ship opposite that which receives the wind as the sheltered side. As an adjective, 1510s, from the noun.
Example
- 1. At dusk , they gather with the other boats in the lee of a small island , beside a mangrove forest where the water is calm .
- 2. Lenticular clouds are a type of wave cloud that typically occur on the lee side of mountain ranges and form when air is forced upward as it moves over higher terrain .
- 3. They form in the lower stratosphere , generally on the lee side of mountain ranges or elevated terrain , at extremely low temperatures of - 121 f ( - 85 c ) or colder .