shoal1

[shohl] /ʃoʊl/
noun
1.
a place where a sea, river, or other body of water is shallow.
2.
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.
adjective
3.
of little depth, as water; shallow.
verb (used without object)
4.
to become shallow or more shallow.
verb (used with object)
5.
to cause to become shallow.
6.
Nautical. to sail so as to lessen the depth of (the water under a vessel).
Origin
before 900; (adj.) Middle English (Scots) shald, Old English sceald shallow; (noun and v.) derivative of the adj.
Synonyms
1. shallow, rapid, riffle. 2. reef.

shoal2

[shohl] /ʃoʊl/
noun
1.
any large number of persons or things.
2.
a school of fish.
verb (used without object)
3.
to collect in a shoal; throng.
Origin
1570-80; earlier shole, probably < Middle Dutch, Middle Low German schōle, with sound-substitution of sh- for Low German skh-; cf. school2
Examples from the web for shoal
  • Actually, minimal number of fish in a shoal which must know how to find food is always constant.
  • She pointed to a shoal where water came over rocks in a lip of white foam.
  • He is now making a robot predator to see how the shoal reacts to less benign intruders.
  • The leader of the pod catches the telltale speckled light of armored squid, moving in an immense shoal a thousand strong.
British Dictionary definitions for shoal

shoal1

/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
3.
to make or become shallow
4.
(intransitive) (nautical) to sail into shallower water
adjective
5.
a less common word for shallow
6.
(nautical) (of the draught of a vessel) drawing little water
Derived Forms
shoaliness, noun
Word Origin
Old English scealdshallow

shoal2

/ʃəʊl/
noun
1.
a large group of certain aquatic animals, esp fish
2.
a large group of people or things
verb
3.
(intransitive) to collect together in such a group
Word Origin
Old English scolu; related to Middle Low German, Middle Dutch schōleschool²
Word Origin and History for shoal
n.

"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.

"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.

v.

"assemble in a multitude," c.1600, from shoal (n.2). Related: Shoaled; shoaling.

shoal in Science
shoal
  (shōl)   
A submerged mound or ridge of sediment in a body of shallow water.
Encyclopedia Article for shoal

accumulation of sediment in a river channel or on a continental shelf that is potentially dangerous to ships. On the continental shelf it is conventionally taken to be less than 10 m (33 feet) below water level at low tide. Shoals are formed by essentially the same factors that produce offshore bars. See sandbar.

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