: a coral island consisting of a reef surrounding a lagoon
Illustration of atoll
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If you are lucky enough to sail south and west of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, you'll find the Maldives, a group of about 1,200 coral islands and sandbanks that form the Republic of Maldives. Many islands in that independent nation demonstrate the archetypal atoll, and geographers often use them to point out the characteristic features of such coral islands. Given how prevalent atolls are there, it isn't surprising that atoll comes from the name for that kind of island in Divehi, the official language of the Maldives.
Examples of atoll in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebThe Brando, the famously picturesque luxury beach resort on a remote private atoll in French Polynesia, is thousands of miles away from busy Paris.—Dobrina Zhekova, Travel + Leisure, 11 Mar. 2024 In American Samoa, a group of seven islands and atolls in the South Pacific Ocean, voters have chosen 52-year-old Jason Palmer as their Democratic nominee over incumbent President Joe Biden with a decisive 51-40 vote.—USA TODAY, 6 Mar. 2024 On July 2, 1937, pilot Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan hopped into their Lockheed 10-E Electra and headed for Howland Island, a 0.6-square-mile coral atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 1 Feb. 2024 With over 1,000 resorts, the Maldives experienced a 12% increase in tourist arrivals last year compared to 2022 – the most ever for the atoll nation – totaling over 1.88 million tourists.—Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2024 Signs of the marine degradation underscored the threats of coral harvesting in the territory, prompting several Filipino senators to raise suspicion over whether China has plans to militarize the atolls through reclamation, CNN affiliate CNN Philippines reported.—Kathleen Magramo, CNN, 22 Sep. 2023 The airstrip, which divided the island into north and south, was the main objective of the assault on the atoll.—Natasha Frost Maud Bodoukian Meyrant, New York Times, 18 Nov. 2023 Arkansas The Problem: Far from landlocked Arkansas, the Republic of the Marshall Islands—a country of low-lying coral atolls in the Pacific Ocean—is flooding more and more frequently as sea levels rise.—Krista Langlois, Outside Online, 10 Mar. 2023 Chinese coast-guard ships blasted water cannons at Philippine boats at least eight times near a contested atoll in the South China Sea, damaging equipment aboard one of them, as escalating tensions between the countries lead to more close encounters in the waters.—Niharika Mandhana, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'atoll.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Divehi (Indo-Aryan language of the Maldive Islands) atolu
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