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coulee

coulee

1 9.9
A deep narrow valley that is often dry and made by water or lava
  • noun
  • /kuːˈleɪ/
  • Specialized
: coulee
  • "It's a long walk to the coulee," she remarked.

Examples

  • Fox Eyes, the leader, had decided to await the return of the wolf scouts at the mouth of the coulee.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The rutted track rose steeply along one side of a coulee whose tumbling water Buck could only hear, for it was masked by a thick scrub of willow.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • At this moment in the Coulee Country, life seems to be holding its breath.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The three scouts rode right up over the rise, then down through the coulee.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • "Shivering, I started across the ford, though I knew that death lay up the coulee."

    Fiction book (1995)
  • They'd found most of them down along the coulee ditch.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Fifty yards below, the herd grazed along a verdant coulee.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Parched brown earth was cut through by coulees of still deeper brown, with bits of mica sparkling on their dry banks.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • We hike through fields to the sloping coulees of the Snake River Canyon.

  • The best big-game opportunities are found in the coulees that fracture outward in long fingers from the lakeshore.

Synonyms

canyon
vscoulee
246 2.5

A deep, narrow valley with very steep sides often made by a river

is often drier and can form from lava as well as water
ravine
vscoulee
44 5.8

A deep narrow valley with steep sides made by a river

is often drier and may also form by lava flows
gorge
vscoulee
31 5.3

A deep narrow valley with steep rocky sides, often with a river

is generally drier and can result from lava as well as water
canon
vscoulee
  • Archaic
1 7.9

A deep narrow valley with very steep sides

is the same term but written in the other common spelling
coomb
vscoulee
  • UK
1 9.9

A small deep valley with steep sides

is usually larger and occurs in dry regions and from lava
coombe
vscoulee
  • UK
1 9.9

A small deep valley between hills, often found in southern England

is larger and more common in arid regions, sometimes formed by lava

How Deep

canyon
246 2.5
gorge
31 5.3
coulee
  • Specialized
1 9.9
ravine
44 5.8
gully
21 4.7

Surface Forms

coulee singular
coulees plural

Etymology

Coulee comes from the French word coulée and the verb couler, which mean 'to flow'. So a coulee is a place where water or lava once 'flowed', leaving a deep, often dry valley.