kula

plural kulas

1. A tower, turret or steeple in Southeastern Europe erected during the period of Ottoman domination on the area.

   The kulas were indeed like fortresses, with as many as twenty 'guns', i.e. adult men ready to fight.

   1998, Miranda Vickers, Between Serb and Albanian, page 111

   2 more examples

   Instead of the haïdooks, their next of kin, the zaptiés now hold a kula on the highest point of the pass; here one pauses to rest after scrambling up the vile Turkish road on one side of the ravine, and before scrambling down the vile Turkish road on the other.

   1867, Georgina Mary Muir Mackenzie, Lady Georgina Mary Muir Sebright, Mackenzie Sebright, Adeline Paulina Irby, Travels in the Slavonic Provinces of Turkey-in-Europe, pages 107–108

   The most important kulas of the Čengić-begs are those in Zagorje, in Rataji and the River Odžak near Ustikolina.

   1998, Adil Zulfikarpašić, Milovan Djilas, Nadežda Gaće, The Bosniak, page 5

1. uncountableA ceremonial exchange system conducted in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea, involving the exchange of bracelets and necklaces, and linked to political authority.

plural Kulas

1. A surname.

1. A census-designated place in Maui County, Hawaii, United States.

plural Kulas

1. alternativeAlternative form of Kulah (“type of rug”).

1. A town, a municipality of Vojvodina, Serbia.