coulee

[ koo-lee ]
See synonyms for coulee on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Chiefly Western U.S. and Western Canada. a deep ravine or gulch, usually dry, that has been formed by running water.

  2. a small valley.

  1. a low-lying area.

  2. a small intermittent stream.

  3. Geology. a stream of lava.

Origin of coulee

1
1800–10, Americanism;<Canadian French, French: a flowing, noun use of feminine of coulé, past participle of couler to flow <Latin cōlāre to filter, strain, derivative of cōlum strainer, sieve; cf. colander, portcullis

Words Nearby coulee

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use coulee in a sentence

  • I wormed and twisted around until I got up to that coulee, and sure enough, it was what I thought.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
  • There were some pools of water standing in a coulee, at whose head grew a clump of wild plum trees and other straggly growth.

    The Way of a Man | Emerson Hough
  • We realized at last that it was a solitary buffalo bull, no doubt coming down to water at a little coulee just beyond us.

    The Way of a Man | Emerson Hough
  • Standing in the shade of the coulee wall, he undressed deliberately, folding each garment methodically as he took it off.

    The Happy Family | Bertha Muzzy Bower
  • The coulee wound aimlessly, with precipitous sides that he could not climb, even by leading his horse.

    The Happy Family | Bertha Muzzy Bower

British Dictionary definitions for coulee

coulee

/ (ˈkuːleɪ, -lɪ) /


noun
    • a flow of molten lava

    • such lava when solidified

  1. Western US and Canadian a dry stream valley, especially a long steep-sided gorge or ravine that once carried melt water from a glacier

  1. a small intermittent stream in such a ravine

Origin of coulee

1
C19: from Canadian French coulée a flow, from French, from couler to flow, from Latin cōlāre to sift, purify; see colander

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012