I. ˈlē noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English le, lee, from Old English hlēo, hlēow; akin to Old Frisian hlī protection, shelter, Old Saxon hleo, Old Norse hlē protection, shelter, lee side, hlȳr lukewarm, Old High German lāo lukewarm, Gothic hlija hut, tent, Latin calēre to be warm, Welsh clyd warm, cozy, Sanskrit śarad autumn; basic meaning: warm
1. : protecting shelter
found a place … where we could get a little lee provided we anchored close enough to the shore — Peter Heaton
had squatted in the lee of a rock — Farley Mowat
worked in the lee of the great, but did great things himself — Times Literary Supplement
2. : the side (as of a ship or mountain) that is sheltered from the wind and provides shelter from it
the smaller vessels clung to the lee of some high mangrove island — Marjory S. Douglas
a tramp snoring under the lee of a haystack — Nicholas Monsarrat
•
- by the lee
II. adjective
1. : of or relating to the side sheltered from the wind — opposed to weather
the rocky point … was in sight, broad on the lee bow — Frederick Marryat
2.
a. : located on the side away from which an advancing glacier moves
lee slope
— opposed to stoss
b. : located on the side away from which the prevailing wind blows — used of a hillside or a knob of rock
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English lie, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin lia, probably of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish lige bed, Gaulish legasit he laid, Welsh llaid mud — more at lie
: the settlings of liquor (as wine) during fermentation and aging : dregs, sediment — now used only in plural
the wine of life is drawn and the mere lees … left — Shakespeare
broken men, bond servants, “gaolbirds,” the lees and settlings of the old world — V.L.Parrington