as in shallow
lacking significant physical depth
shoal waters of the bay meant that our ship had to be moored a considerable distance from shore
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Recent Examples of shoal
Avery Schmitz, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
Parrotfish, angelfish, and thick shoals of bluestripe snappers colored the reef.
—Betsy Andrews, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2025
McSorley, fatigued and with his radars on the blink, may have unwittingly bottomed out the boat on a shoal, damaging the plating underneath.
—Kevin Duchschere, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
Days later, China’s powerful State Council declared a nature reserve over much of the shoal, drawing protests from both Manila and Washington over the unilateral move.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shoal
Noun
The debris appears as a large cloud of dirty water seen beyond the shoals off Montego Bay.
—Avery Schmitz, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
Parrotfish, angelfish, and thick shoals of bluestripe snappers colored the reef.
—Betsy Andrews, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2025
McSorley, fatigued and with his radars on the blink, may have unwittingly bottomed out the boat on a shoal, damaging the plating underneath.
—Kevin Duchschere, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
Days later, China’s powerful State Council declared a nature reserve over much of the shoal, drawing protests from both Manila and Washington over the unilateral move.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shoal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoal
Adjective
-
Amid the nods to social media and cancel culture and the shallow perils of modern celebrity, the image of Taylor-Joy’s disciplined group of insurgents, who speak in almost archaic, poetic dialogue, strikes a bracing contrast.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Vegetables with slow root development typically form deeper vertical roots rather than shallow horizontal roots.—
Tessa Cooper,
The Spruce,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The rollers are fast, portable, quiet and mess-free, great for prescription bottles, bills, bank statements, shipping labels and more.—
Tory Johnson,
ABC News,
16 Feb. 2026
-
The petition includes internal accounting documents and bank statements purportedly showing the suspect transactions and improper accounting.—
Paul Flahive,
Austin American Statesman,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shoal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoal. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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