tule

noun

tu·​le ˈtü-lē 

plural tules

1

: any of various large bulrushes

especially : a tall sedge (Schoenoplectus acutus synonym Scirpus acutus) of North America that grows in dense stands along freshwater wetlands

The roots and seeds of tule, a reed that grows along shorelines and in the shallows, were eaten and the reeds themselves were used to make baskets, cord, sandals and clothing.

—Philip Kopper et al.

2

chiefly California : land on which tules are the dominant or characteristic native plant

—usually plural

This habitat is fed and flooded by Butte Creek and is defined by a matrix of marsh, tules, shallow waterways and uplands with oaks and willows.

—Tom Stienstra

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Bark and tule was harvested, scraped and woven. —Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic, 20 Nov. 2020

The tule boat launch — ha kwaiyo asooq weno, in Kumeyaay — will begin around 10:30 a.m., when about 50 boats are launched at Silver Strand State Beach in Coronado. —Lauren J. Mappstaff Writer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Aug. 2022

As the Pacific rose with the melting of the northern ice sheet, the tule marshes rose with it, and the underlying layer of submerged dead plant material thickened, creating a stratum of what is really a juvenile fossil fuel. —David Owen, The New Yorker, 11 May 2022

The tule must be harvested from freshwater marshes in a sustainable way. —San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Aug. 2022

Kumeyaay students, professors and community members will sail 50 traditional tule boats into the ocean Saturday as part of Kumeyaay Community College’s curriculum and efforts for cultural preservation. —Lauren J. Mappstaff Writer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Aug. 2022

Nearby, a tranquil backwater cove lined with tule and other water plants is so quiet that the sound of a paddle from a blue fiberglass boat slapping the water is clearly heard. —AZCentral.com, 8 Aug. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

Spanish, from Nahuatl tōllin

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing tule

• tule elk

• tule elk