coulee

Meanings

1. A stream, especially one in the western US or Canada, generally smaller than a bayou; it may (or may not) run dry in summer, may be sluggish, shallow, and wide (forming in effect a pond or slough), or may have formerly cut a deep gulch or ravine, but at present run dry.
2. A reach of water in a bayou that is like a slough but deeper.
3. A lava flow (whether molten or solidified).

1. A rural municipality in south-west Saskatchewan, Canada; in full, the Rural Municipality of Coulee No. 136.
2. An unincorporated community in Mountrail County, North Dakota, United States.

Etymology

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