Lee

Lee (lē), v. i., To lie; to speak falsely. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Lee, n.; pl. Lees (lēz). [F. lie, perh. fr. L. levare to lift up, raise. Cf. Lever.] That which settles at the bottom, as of a cask of liquor (esp. wine); sediment; dregs; — used now only in the plural. [Lees occurs also as a form of the singular.] "The lees of wine." Holland.

A thousand demons lurk within the lee. Young.

The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees Is left this vault to brag of. Shak.

Lee, n. [OE. lee shelter, Icel. hlē, akin to AS. hleó, hleów, shelter, protection, OS. hlèo, D. lij lee, Sw. lä, Dan. læ.] 1. A sheltered place; esp., a place protected from the wind by some object; the side sheltered from the wind; shelter; protection; as, the lee of a mountain, an island, or a ship.

We lurked under lee. Morte d'Arthure.

Desiring me to take shelter in his lee. Tyndall.

2. (Naut.) That part of the hemisphere, as one stands on shipboard, toward which the wind blows. See Lee, a.

By the lee, To bring by the lee. See under By, and Bring. — Under the lee of, on that side which is sheltered from the wind; as, to be under the lee of a ship.

Lee, a. (Naut.) Of or pertaining to the part or side opposite to that against which the wind blows; — opposed to weather; as, the lee side or lee rail of a vessel.

Lee gauge. See Gauge, n. (Naut.) — Lee shore, the shore on the lee side of a vessel. — Lee tide, a tide running in the same direction that the wind blows. — On the lee beam, directly to the leeward; in a line at right angles to the length of the vessel and to the leeward.