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

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

Before and during this 16-day stretch, some areas in this region have seen thick, dangerously opaque tule fog form briefly, slashing visibility to virtually zero.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025

In these instances, the tule fog lifted relatively quickly, while the blanket of low clouds remained, creating ongoing visibility issues.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025

We journeyed about three or four leagues and stopped at a high spot which had a number of oak trees but was entirely surrounded by tule swamps.

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

The lake and its extensive wetlands once teemed with fish, birds, beavers and frogs, and the people who lived on its shores built rafts out of tules and fished with basket traps.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2023

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 2023

Two young tribal members carried bunches of tules and waded into the water.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 27, 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

Sometimes when a bunch of tules and reeds and grasses mixed and blew and waved, I was terrified that it was she, that she was carrying them or parting them.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

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