shoal1
[shohl]
- a place where a sea, river, or other body of water is shallow.
- a sandbank or sand bar in the bed of a body of water, especially one that is exposed above the surface of the water at low tide.
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- of little depth, as water; shallow.
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- to become shallow or more shallow.
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- to cause to become shallow.
- Nautical. to sail so as to lessen the depth of (the water under a vessel).
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Origin of shoal1
before 900; (adj.) Middle English (Scots) shald, Old English sceald shallow; (noun and v.) derivative of the adj.
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comshoal2
[shohl]
- any large number of persons or things.
- a school of fish.
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- to collect in a shoal; throng.
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Origin of shoal2
1570–80; earlier shole, probably < Middle Dutch, Middle Low German schōle, with sound-substitution of sh- for Low German skh-; cf. school2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
loadladeclogcrowdsupplyswellsaturateblockpermeatestuffstoreclosecramoverflowtopfurnishpacksatisfyimpregnateglutExamples from the Web for shoaling
Historical Examples
As soon as they found that the water was shoaling, they would anchor.
Rollo on the AtlanticJacob Abbott
I then helped the squire to walk up the shoaling beach, out of the river.
Down The RiverOliver Optic
"The water's shoaling rapidly, sir," repeated the second lieutenant.
The Dealings of Captain SharkeyA. Conan Doyle
It would also appear that since Captain King's survey the water has been shoaling hereabouts.
The shoaling indicated by a sounding of 310 fathoms taken in Lat.
The North PoleRobert E. Peary
shoal1
- a stretch of shallow water
- a sandbank or rocky area in a stretch of water, esp one that is visible at low water
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- to make or become shallow
- (intr) nautical to sail into shallower water
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- a less common word for shallow
- nautical (of the draught of a vessel) drawing little water
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Word Origin
Old English sceald shallow
shoal2
- a large group of certain aquatic animals, esp fish
- a large group of people or things
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- (intr) to collect together in such a group
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Word Origin
Old English scolu; related to Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schōle school ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for shoaling
shoal
n.1
"place of shallow water," c.1300, from Old English schealde (adj.), from sceald "shallow," from Proto-Germanic *skala- (cf. Swedish skäll "thin;" Low German schol, Frisian skol "not deep"), of uncertain origin. The terminal -d was dropped 16c.
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shoal
n.2
"large number" (especially of fish), 1570s, apparently identical with Old English scolu "band, troop, crowd of fish" (see school (n.2)); but perhaps rather a 16c. adoption of cognate Middle Dutch schole.
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shoal
v.
"assemble in a multitude," c.1600, from shoal (n.2). Related: Shoaled; shoaling.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
shoal
[shōl]
- A submerged mound or ridge of sediment in a body of shallow water.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.