Shoal Meaning
/ʃəʊl/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjShallow.
nounA sandbank or sandbar creating a shallow.
Sentence Examples
We've spotted that shoal of herring.
We've located the shoal of herring.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The fisherman saw a large ____ of fish swimming near the boat.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The small boat ran aground on a hidden ____ of sand that wasn't marked on the navigator's map.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English schold, scholde, from Old English sċeald (“shallow”), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *skalidaz, past participle of *skaljaną (“to go dry, dry up, become shallow”), from *skalaz (“parched, shallow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- (“to dry out”). Cognate with Low German Scholl (“shallow water”), German schal (“stale, flat, vapid”). Compare shallow.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, III.19:
"All told, we had scarce two miles to run; but the navigation was delicate, the entrance to this northern anchorage was not only narrow and shoal, but lay east and west, so that the schooner must be nicely handled to be got in."
— 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
"'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."
— 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
"The god himself with ready trident stands, / And opes the deep, and spreads the moving sands, / Then heaves them off the shoals."
— 1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
"The depth of your pond should be six feet; and on the sides some shoals for the fish to sun themselves in and to lay their spawn."
— 1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The fisherman saw a large ____ of fish swimming near the boat.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The small boat ran aground on a hidden ____ of sand that wasn't marked on the navigator's map.