swale

noun \ ˈswāl \

Definition of swale

:a low-lying or depressed and often wet stretch of land; also :a shallow depression on a golf course

Recent Examples of swale from the Web

During rare years with sustained downpours, moist swales are carpeted with spiky spinifex grasses that take on the appearance of fields of golden wheat.

— john pickrell, Science | AAAS, "Australia to ax support for long-term ecology sites," 11 Aug. 2017
The Old Course is known for its blind drives over seas of gorse, vast greens, and swales, humps and hollows which require imagination and the ability to use the ground to your advantage.

— rob hodgetts, CNN, "Seven things you need to know about the Open 2017 at Royal Birkdale," 18 July 2017
Best course nearby: Royal Portrush's Valley course twists and tumbles through hills and swales between the Dunluce and the East Strand and provides an absorbing antidote.

— rob hodgetts, CNN, "Birkdale and beyond: the greatest golf links in the world," 17 July 2017
On the fourth hole, Day’s approach shot missed the green and trundled down a swale about 15 yards from the putting surface.

— bill pennington, New York Times, "Rickie Fowler Takes Early Lead at the U.S. Open," 15 June 2017
This No. 7 forces golfers to skirt bunkers on layup shots and leaves a potentially semi-blind approach from the bottom of a swale.

— teddy greenstein and chad yoder, chicagotribune.com, "Southeast Wisconsin's U.S. Open: A hole-by-hole tour," 12 June 2017
A city spokesman said vacuum trucks collected about 1,350 gallons of sewage from the swale.

— brittany wallman, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Hidden underground: Fort Lauderdale's $1.4 billion sewer and water problem," 12 May 2017
In the next year, Alice's Garden will build a swale to drain water from the nearby Brown Street Academy into an underground cistern, said Venice Williams, executive director of the community gardens.

— don behm, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Photos: MMSD to award $1.5 million in grants for green infrastructure," 8 May 2017
On Friday, Zhang and about 40 other volunteers, mostly ArcelorMittal employees, dug in to improve the outdoor habitat at the R&D campus in East Chicago, planting some 45 native trees and shrubs in a unique dune and swale portion of the property.

— karen caffarini, Post-Tribune, "ArcelorMittal plants native trees, shrubs at R&D campus," 8 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'swale.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.