amole

American  

[uh-moh-ley, ah-maw-le] / əˈmoʊ leɪ, ɑˈmɔ lɛ /

noun

Southwestern U.S.

plural

amoles

1. the root of any of several plants, as Mexican species of agaves, used as a substitute for soap.

2. any such plant itself.

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Etymology

Origin of amole

< Mexican Spanish < Nahuatl ahmōlli soap

Example Sentences

The only times he has gone hunting was for wild swine, he said, partly because the pigs were killing the purple amole, an endangered purple flower that grows in central California.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2022

This, too, is the home of the agaves, or century-plants, and I know of nothing so astonishing as the gigantic flower-spike that shoots upward from the comparatively small plant called amole.

From Unknown Mexico, Volume 1 (of 2) A Record of Five Years' Exploration Among the Tribes of the Western Sierra Madre; In the Tierra Caliente of Tepic and Jalisco; and Among the Tarascos of Michoacan by Lumholtz, Carl

We take our choice today between finding deer-brush and digging for amole, because the mock oranges aren't ripe enough to be nice and soapy yet.

From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene

It was not long before Donald spied an amole, and having found one, discovered many others growing near.

From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene

With this and the amole they ran back to Katy.

From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene