Shoal

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ʃəʊl/
• Rhymes: -əʊl

From Middle English schold, scholde, from Old English sceald ("shallow"), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *skalidaz, past participle of *skaljanÄ… ("to go dry, dry up, become shallow"), from *skalaz ("parched, shallow"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- ("to dry out"). Cognate with Low German Scholl ("shallow water"), German schal ("stale, flat, vapid"). Compare shallow.

Alternative forms

• sheld dialectal
• shaul, shawl, shauld, schald, shaud, shawd Scotland
• shole, shoald, shold

Full definition of shoal

Adjective

1. (now rare) Shallow.shoal water
• 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, III.19:But that part of the coast being shoal and bare,
  And rough with reefs which ran out many a mile,
  His port lay on the other side o' the isle.

Noun

1. A sandbank or sandbar creating a shallow.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 1, 'Twas early June, the new grass was flourishing everywheres, the posies in the yard—peonies and such—in full bloom, the sun was shining, and the water of the bay was blue, with light green streaks where the shoal showed.
• DrydenThe god himself with ready trident stands,
  And opes the deep, and spreads the moving sands,
  Then heaves them off the shoals.
2. A shallow in a body of water.
• MortimerThe depth of your pond should be six feet; and on the sides some shoals for the fish to lay their spawn.
• ShakespeareWolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,
  And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour.

Synonyms

• (sandbank) sandbar, sandbank

Verb

1. To arrive at a shallow (or less deep) area.
2. To cause a shallowing; to come to a more shallow part of.A ship shoals her water by advancing into that which is less deep. — Marryat.
3. To become shallow.The colour of the water shows where it shoals.

1570, presumably from Middle English *shole ("school of fish"), from Old English sceolu, scolu ("troop or band of people, host, multitude, division of army, school of fish"), from Proto-Germanic *skulō ("crowd"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷel- ("crowd, people"). Cognate with West Frisian skoal ("shoal"), Middle Low German schōle ("multitude, troop"), Dutch school ("shoal of fishes").

Noun

1. Any large number of persons or things.
• Francis Bacongreat shoals of people
2. A large number of fish (or other sea creatures) of the same species swimming together.
• WallerBeneath, a shoal of silver fishes glides.

Synonyms

• (fish) school

Verb

1. To collect in a shoal; to throng.The fish shoaled about the place.

Anagrams

• halos
• shola
• solah