Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🐟 A group of fish 🏝️ A shallow area 🌊 To become shallow
shoal

shoal

5 7.9
A shallow area in water that can be dangerous for boats
  • noun
  • /ʃoʊl/
translation icon : banco
  • Both islands were steep and stony, surrounded by rocks and shoals.
  • shoal or headland
  • reefs and shoals

Examples

  • The lake was choppy, and the boat rocked as they trolled along the shaded shores and rock shoals.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Others warn mariners away from dangerous shoals or headlands.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The next shoal was at least a mile long.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • These shoal waters have some narrow channels in 'em.

    The Fighting Seabees (1944)

  • Shoals on that bar are never in the same place twice.

    The Finest Hours (2016)

  • There was a half-mile of shoals and then the big pool and tree swing.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • That's what the river was, a series of deep pools separated by shoals.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Boats need to be careful when navigating the shoal to avoid running aground.

  • The fisherman warned us about the hidden shoal that could damage our boat.

  • While sailing, we spotted a dangerous shoal just below the surface of the water.

Synonyms

shallow
vsshoal
14 3.3

A part of a river or sea that is not deep

is a raised underwater bank often dangerous for boats
mudbank
vsshoal
1 4.9

A raised area of mud by a river, lake, or sea that can trap boats

is usually a raised shallow feature made of sand or rock rather than mud

How Shallow

sandbank
  • UK
1 3.2
shoal
5 7.9
channel
57 3.8

Surface Forms

shoal singular
shoals plural

Etymology

Shoal meaning a shallow area of water comes from an old English word that meant 'shallow', like the modern word shallow, so a shoal is a place where the water is not deep and can be dangerous for boats.