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tule

[too-lee; Spanish too-le]
noun, plural tu·les [too-leez; Spanish too-les] /ˈtu liz; Spanish ˈtu lɛs/.
  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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Origin of tule

1830–40, Americanism; < Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl tōlin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tules

Historical Examples

  • What's the matter with you, old man, is only fever 'n' agur ketched in them tules!

    A First Family of Tasajara

    Bret Harte

  • I helped to clear out them tules and dredged the channels yonder.

  • Year by year the tules reclaim the muddy confluence of the twin rivers.

    California

    Mary Austin

  • Occasionally the hedge of the tules broke to a greater or lesser opening into a lagoon.

    Gold

    Stewart White

  • In the briefest fraction of a second the ducks appeared above the tules.

    The Killer

    Stewart Edward White