shoal

1 of 5

adjective

shoal

2 of 5

noun (1)

1
2
: a sandbank or sandbar that makes the water shallow

shoal

3 of 5

verb (1)

shoaled; shoaling; shoals

intransitive verb

: to become shallow

transitive verb

1
: to come to a shallow or less deep part of
2
: to cause to become shallow or less deep

shoal

4 of 5

noun (2)

: a large group or number : crowd
a shoal of fish

shoal

5 of 5

verb (2)

shoaled; shoaling; shoals

Examples of shoal in a Sentence

Adjective shoal waters of the bay meant that our ship had to be moored a considerable distance from shore Noun (1) the shoals off Nantucket Island are famous as the final resting places of many ill-fated ships
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
These handsome shoaling fish have brilliant black and white vertical stripes. Grrlscientist, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024 They were designed to ferry enormous loads in their holds, up and down the Thames and its nearby rivers and estuaries, in shallow, shoaling waters, subject to notorious tides and nervous wind. William Booth, Washington Post, 24 July 2023 At this point, the heat may be mixed back up to the surface by a combination of shoaling currents, upwelling and turbulent mixing. Noel Gutiérrez Brizuela, The Conversation, 20 June 2023
Noun
Suddenly, the towers’ tall shapes suggest familiar structures — buoys bobbing at sea, warning of hazardous shoals ahead; deep-sea oil rigging, pulling up the fluid that drives the industrial ruin of global warming; the watchtowers surveilling a prison or military installation. Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for shoal 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shoal.' 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

Adjective

alteration of Middle English shold, from Old English sceald — more at skeleton

Noun (2)

Middle English *shole, from Old English scolu multitude — more at school

First Known Use

Adjective

circa 1554, in the meaning defined above

Noun (1)

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

1574, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Noun (2)

1579, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

1610, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of shoal was circa 1554

Dictionary Entries Near shoal

Cite this Entry

“Shoal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoal. Accessed 12 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

shoal

1 of 3 adjective
: shallow entry 1 sense 1
shoal water

shoal

2 of 3 noun
1
: a place where a sea, lake, or river is shallow
2
: a sandbank or sandbar just below the surface of the water

shoal

3 of 3 noun
: school entry 3
a shoal of pilot fish
Etymology

Adjective

Old English sceald "shallow"

Noun

Old English scolu "great number"

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