coulee

See also: coulée and Coulee

English

Alternative forms

• coulée
• cooley

Etymology

From French coulée (“flow”), from couler (“to flow”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkuli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːli
• Homophone: coolly

Noun

coulee (plural coulees)

1. A stream.
2. (geology) A lava flow.
3. (US) A deep gulch or ravine, frequently dry in summer.
4. (Mississippi Delta region) A reach of water in a bayou that is like a slough but deeper.
   • 1989, John McPhee, The Control of Nature, →ISBN, page 73:

     We were in a coulee, which is like a slough but deeper and with slushier muds at the bottom.

Related terms

• coulis

References

• “coulee”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.