lea

UK: /liː/

US: 'lea': (lē, lā for 1; lē for 2); 'Lea': (lē′ə for the femal given name)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

lea¹  (lē, lā), n. 

1. a tract of open ground, esp. grassland;
   meadow.
2. Agriculture land used for a few years for pasture or for growing hay, then plowed over and replaced by another crop.
3. a crop of hay on tillable land.

adj. 

4. untilled;
   fallow.

Also, ley. 

• bef. 900; Middle English lege, lei, Old English lēah; cognate with Old High German lōh, dialect, dialectal Dutch loo (as in Waterloo), Latin lūcus

lea²  (lē), n. 

1. a measure of yarn of varying quantity, for wool usually 80 yards (73 m), cotton and silk 120 yards (110 m), linen 300 yards (274 m).
2. [Textiles.]
   • a unit length used to ascertain the linear density of yarns.
   • a count or number representing units of linear measure per pound in linen or cotton yarn:
     a 20-lea yarn.

• perh. back formation from Middle English lese, variant of leash 1350–1400

Le•a  (lē for 1; lē′ə for 2), n. 

1. Biographical Homer, 1876–1912, U.S. soldier and author: adviser 1911–12 to Sun Yat-sen in China.
2. a female given name, form of Leah or Lee. 

lea., 

1. league.
2. leather.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

lea / liː/ noun

1. a meadow or field
2. land that has been sown with grass seed

Etymology: Old English lēah; related to German dialect loh thicket

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

LEA abbreviation (in Britain)

1. Local Education Authority