amole

American  

[uh-moh-ley, ah-maw-le] / əˈmoʊ leɪ, ɑˈmɔ lɛ /

noun

Southwestern U.S.

plural

amoles

1. the root of any of several plants, as Mexican species of agaves, used as a substitute for soap.

2. any such plant itself.

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Etymology

Origin of amole

< Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl ahmōlli soap

Example Sentences

The only times he has gone hunting was for wild swine, he said, partly because the pigs were killing the purple amole, an endangered purple flower that grows in central California.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2022

With this and the amole they ran back to Katy.

From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene

Then, standing on one side with her field knife, Linda began to slice the remainder of the amole very thin and to throw it over the surface of the pool.

From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene

Behind him came twenty or thirty more penitentes, the most I ever saw at once, some of them whipping themselves with big broad whips made out of amole.

From The Blood of the Conquerors by Fergusson, Harvey

“I too was born and bred in this land of amole and cactus.”

From Bred of the Desert A Horse and a Romance by Horton, Marcus