Synonyms of shoals

shoals

noun

plural of shoal

as in banks

a place where a body of water (as a sea or river) is shallow

the shoals off Nantucket Island are famous as the final resting places of many ill-fated ships

Synonyms & Similar Words

• banks
• shallows
• fords
• sandbars
• sandbanks
• bars
• towheads

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• trenches
• depths
• deeps
• abysses
• gulfs

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of shoals

Volunteers and staff with the nonprofit foundation removed alligatorweed from the shoals manually but are working on grant proposals to remove more. — John Marks, Charlotte Observer, 31 July 2026

The assumption is that Lohar will either abandon pursuit or accidentally run the Bitchfist aground on the toothy shoals. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 22 June 2026

China claims almost all of the sea, including areas that overlap with exclusive economic zones from countries like the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, and has been building out structures on some shoals in recent years to bolster its claims. — Joanna Ossinger, CNBC, 30 May 2026

Rose Island Lighthouse stands on a rocky heap of land in Narragansett Bay, guiding ships away from the shallow shoals of Newport Harbor. — Madeline Bilis, Travel + Leisure, 3 May 2026

As a result, the wide, shallow bay, with its lacework of shoals and basins, grows hot and hypersaline, killing seagrass, fueling algae blooms and hurting the economy of the Keys. — Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 29 Apr. 2026

The island is surrounded by reefs and shoals, and is home to several historical sites, parks and viewpoints. — Kerry Breen, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026

As the southern Gulf Stream clashes with the northern Labrador Current, the rough waters steer sailors toward shallow shoals and ultimate disaster. — Brian Higgins, Outside, 2 Mar. 2026

Under the cover of night on July 30, 1949, the Amethyst quenched all its lights on board and shadowed a passing Chinese merchant ship, the Kiangling Liberation, following it through the tricky shoals of the river. — Anne Ewbank, Popular Science, 18 Feb. 2026