Grand Coulee

American  

[koo-lee] / ˈku li /

noun

1. a dry canyon in central Washington: cut by the Columbia River in the glacial period. 52 miles (84 kilometers) long; over 400 feet (120 meters) deep.

2. a dam on the Columbia River at the northern end of this canyon. 550 feet (168 meters) high.

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Grand Coulee British  

/ ˈkuːlɪ /

noun

1. a canyon in central Washington State, over 120 m (400 ft) deep, at the N end of which is situated the Grand Coulee Dam, on the Columbia River. Height of dam: 168 m (550 ft). Length of dam: 1310 m (4300 ft)

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Etymology

Origin of Grand Coulee

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

The proposal comes as upper Columbia Basin tribes begin to reintroduce salmon in their homewaters nearly a century after construction of Grand Coulee cut off their journey.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 6, 2024

Air, liquid and slag discharges of heavy metals from the zinc and lead smelter resulted in contamination all the way to the Grand Coulee.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 6, 2024

I still have a photo from a family trip in the 1930s to the worksite for Grand Coulee Dam in Eastern Washington — a beautiful lacework of steel in the sky.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 2, 2024

From Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River to Hoover Dam on the Colorado, reservoirs have fueled toxic algae blooms, increased evaporation and flooded land that was home to Native Americans for millennia.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2023

On the cliff face of the Grand Coulee, Joe and the men he had worked with had looked out for each other as they dodged rocks falling from above.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown