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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shoal
Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 20 Jan. 2026
An emergency dredging is not needed to clear a hazardous shoal that’s developed at the Oceanside harbor entrance, though the annual dredging could be scheduled earlier than usual next spring, a federal official said Tuesday.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Dec. 2025
Theories range from the Edmund Fitzgerald striking a shoal and suffering bottom damage to flooding through the freighter's hatch covers, which filled the ship with water and sank it, to rogue waves, to structural flaws in the ship that the 1975 storm made deadly.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 9 Nov. 2025
The debris appears as a large cloud of dirty water seen beyond the shoals off Montego Bay.
—Avery Schmitz, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shoal
Noun
The park service first documented zebra mussels during a training dive at the SS Sevona shipwreck off the Sand Island shoal in 2015.
—Caitlin Looby, jsonline.com, 20 Jan. 2026
An emergency dredging is not needed to clear a hazardous shoal that’s developed at the Oceanside harbor entrance, though the annual dredging could be scheduled earlier than usual next spring, a federal official said Tuesday.
—Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Dec. 2025
Theories range from the Edmund Fitzgerald striking a shoal and suffering bottom damage to flooding through the freighter's hatch covers, which filled the ship with water and sank it, to rogue waves, to structural flaws in the ship that the 1975 storm made deadly.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 9 Nov. 2025
The debris appears as a large cloud of dirty water seen beyond the shoals off Montego Bay.
—Avery Schmitz, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for shoal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shoal
Adjective
-
American beech trees send down a taproot, but after about 25 to 30 years, more shallow roots draw the nutrients, leaving the taproot’s function to be structural rather than nutritional.—
Doug Ross,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Those thin trigger points are often found near rocks, below cliff bands, or in shallow areas where the snowpack is weaker.—
Callie Zanandrie,
CBS News,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Big banks, seen as the backbone of any economy, also took a hit with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America down over 2% each.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Any extra power can be stored in the 22kWh battery bank and used to power the hotel load at anchor.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shoal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shoal. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
