Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A wreath of flowers or other objects such as shells, nuts, and feathers, worn especially around the neck.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun For scientific words so beginning, see li-, lio-.
  • noun Any ornamental dress for the head or neck, especially a necklace or a wreath of leaves and flowers.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of leu.
  • noun A garland of flowers in Hawaii.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun flower arrangement consisting of a circular band of foliage or flowers for ornamental purposes

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Hawaiian.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Romanian lei

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Hawaiian lei

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Examples

  • Grooms mostly earn a maile lei, which is surely masculine and drapes loosely around the neck.

    Article directories Celibataire Urbaine 2010

  • This definitely isn't "media," and it's probably not "culture," although the little pooch does seem to be wearing a lei, which is, er, kind of cultural, right?

    MoJo Blogs and Articles 2009

  • A lei should be a welcomed celebration of one person's affection to another.

    Chris Pirillo 2009

  • A lei should be a welcomed celebration of one person's affection to another.

    Chris Pirillo 2009

  • This is reflected in the modern Chinese character for the English meaning "tired", "累" ,lei, which is a picture of a field - the work of men - above a picture of a coil of silk - the work of women. gunpowder they had no intention of using it as a weapon; instead, it was developed in the Tang dynasty as a formula for immortality by religious Daoist (daojiao - 道教) alchemists.

    Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • Cheesy though it may sound, vivo per lei which is actually a wonderful Andrea Bocelli song, but it's about la musica.

    Epiphany of the day... 2005

  • Cheesy though it may sound, vivo per lei which is actually a wonderful Andrea Bocelli song, but it's about la musica.

    Archive 2005-11-01 2005

  • The lame jokes where people were getting leis put around their necks which prompted them to quip in wacky fashion: "I haven't been 'lei'd' in years!"

    unclebob Diary Entry unclebob 2004

  • 'aina i ka pono (For the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness) I mau aloa'a ka lei

    WN.com - Articles related to Barack Obama's Total Eclipse for America 2010

  • For example, when my student who returned from Hawaii gave me a beautiful "lei," I used it to decorate the classroom god's head.

    123 I Love You 2009

Comments

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  • Hawaiian wedding ring?

    April 25, 2008

  • Growth ring?

    November 2, 2013