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prettygoodwordcoulee or coulée (KOO-lee) - n., (western U.S. & western Ca) a deep gulch or ravine, frequently dry in summer; (upper midwestern U.S.) a valley; (Mississippi Delta) a reach of water in a bayou that is like a slough but deeper; (geol.) a flow of molten lava, such a flow once solidified.
Lots of regionalisms, not all of them noted above, but I think I've captured the main senses. Here's a pic of Grand Coulee in eastern Washington state, formed by catastrophic flooding when a large lake burst through a glacier that had dammed it up:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Not surprisingly, given the alternate spelling, it's from French, specifically Canadian French coulée, from French, flow, from couler, to flow, from Latin cōlāre, to filter, from cōlum, sieve.
And that wraps up this week of words for gullies with intermittent waterflows -- during which I found enough other synonyms, I could almost have done this for two weeks. Back next week with the usual unsorted heap.
---L.
Lots of regionalisms, not all of them noted above, but I think I've captured the main senses. Here's a pic of Grand Coulee in eastern Washington state, formed by catastrophic flooding when a large lake burst through a glacier that had dammed it up:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
Not surprisingly, given the alternate spelling, it's from French, specifically Canadian French coulée, from French, flow, from couler, to flow, from Latin cōlāre, to filter, from cōlum, sieve.
And that wraps up this week of words for gullies with intermittent waterflows -- during which I found enough other synonyms, I could almost have done this for two weeks. Back next week with the usual unsorted heap.
---L.
