coulee

noun

1. A stream, especially one in the western US or Canada, generally smaller than a bayou; it may (or may not) run dry in summer, may be sluggish, shallow, and wide (forming in effect a pond or slough), or may have formerly cut a deep gulch or ravine, but at present run dry.

   “The small streams and coulees which flow into the Mississippi River in the area are firmly entrenched by the natural topography, and little lateral migration is possible.”

2. A reach of water in a bayou that is like a slough but deeper.

   “We were in a coulee, which is like a slough but deeper and with slushier muds at the bottom.”

3. A lava flow (whether molten or solidified).

   “The edge of a coulee, or stream of solidified lava, though ordinarily a very low escarpment, is exceptionally of such size as to deserve attention in the present connection.”

name

1. A rural municipality in south-west Saskatchewan, Canada; in full, the Rural Municipality of Coulee No. 136.
2. An unincorporated community in Mountrail County, North Dakota, United States.