tule

American  

[too-lee, too-le] / ˈtu li, ˈtu lɛ /

noun

• tules
  plural

1. either of two large bulrushes, Scirpus lacustris or S. acutus, found in California and adjacent regions in inundated lands and marshes.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tules
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tule

1830–40, < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl tōlin

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tule tules

And in its forests and on its grasslands, tule elk and mule deer graze, while bobcats and coyotes hunt for rabbits and mountain beavers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

This tule fog upended that trend, thanks to the exceptional fall weather conditions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

Then, for years, tule fog seemed to form less often.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026

Dome-shaped homes covered in tule, called ki, dotted the landscape.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025

I followed through the tule swamp and after going a little way I met three armed Indians at a distance of about one hundred long varas.

From Colonial Expeditions to the Interior of California Central Valley, 1800-1820 Anthropological Records 16(6):239-292, 1958 by Sherburne Friend Cook

And when she comes back, she hopes to see the tules growing, spreading and reclaiming the shore.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023

In a ring of impenetrable reeds, called tules, was Tulare Lake — then the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi River.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2023

As a girl, McDowell enjoyed spending summer days at the river, where she waded, played among the tules and admired the tadpoles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2023

“We have one area in the entire state of California that we know we can still be farming 150 years from now,” he says, “and they want to plant tules there.”

From Scientific American ● Jun. 7, 2022

He had buried his pearl under a stone of the fire hole in his house, and he stared at the woven tules of his sleeping mat until the crossed design danced in his head.

From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck

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