shoal

¹

[shohl]

noun

1. a place where a sea, river, or other body of water is shallow.

   The clams and mussels gathered from these shoals are the best you’ll ever find.

   Synonyms: ford, shallow(s)

2. a sandbank or sandbar in the bed of a body of water, especially one that is exposed above the surface of the water at low tide.

   Synonyms: reef

adjective

1. of little depth, as water; shallow.

   The first thing these newcomers do is buy a boat and promptly get stuck in the shoal waters, which they know nothing about.

verb (used without object)

1. to become shallow or more shallow.

   The river significantly shoals between the old stone bridge and the bend at Tuttle’s Crossing.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to become shallow.

   Shoaling the approach has effectively kept the larger vessels out of our small harbor.

2. Nautical.,  to sail so as to lessen the depth of (the water under a vessel).

shoal

²

[shohl]

noun

1. any large number of persons or things.

2. a school of fish.

   a shoal of herring;

   a shoal of mackerel.

verb (used without object)

1. to collect in a shoal; throng.

shoal

¹

/ ʃəʊl /

noun

1. a stretch of shallow water

2. a sandbank or rocky area in a stretch of water, esp one that is visible at low water

verb

1. to make or become shallow

2. (intr) nautical to sail into shallower water

adjective

1. a less common word for shallow

2. nautical (of the draught of a vessel) drawing little water

shoal

²

/ ʃəʊl /

noun

1. a large group of certain aquatic animals, esp fish

2. a large group of people or things

verb

1. (intr) to collect together in such a group

shoal

1. A submerged mound or ridge of sediment in a body of shallow water.

Other Word Forms

• shoaliness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of shoal¹

First recorded before 900; (for the adjective) Middle English shold(e), Old English sceald shallow; noun and verb derivative of the adjective

Origin of shoal²

First recorded in 1570–80; earlier shole, probably from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German schōle, with sound-substitution of sh- for Low German skh-; school ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of shoal¹

Old English sceald _shallow

Origin of shoal²

Old English scolu; related to Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schōle _school ²

Example Sentences

Put it all together, and the U.S. economy is in dire straits, possibly heading toward a shoal.

From Los Angeles Times

The riptide unleashed by this regrettable legislation will drag Millie’s aides into the shoals.

From Salon

And for decades, every attempt to create legal access has foundered on the rocky shoals of property rights and lumbering bureaucracy.

From Los Angeles Times

These standards were the shoals on which much of Trump’s first-term effort at regulatory vandalism foundered.

From Los Angeles Times

Calm captains of the ship of state struggle to navigate the world system’s waves and shoals.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• reef