What does "shoal" mean?
A sandbank or sandbar creating a shallow.
Shoal
/ʃəʊl/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A sandbank or sandbar creating a shallow.
- Grammar: shoal is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: school, shallow, a mass of, a school.
- Useful contrasts: deep, deep water, deepen.
- Usage evidence: Tom and Mary were on the verge of diving, off the left edge of the sentence, in the infinite corpus, when they spotted underneath a shoal of hungry contributors, teeth out, ready to jump on them and shred their mistakes down to the last one.
How to use "shoal"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "shoal" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "shoal" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "shoal" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "shoal" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "shoal" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "school" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "shoal", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A sandbank or sandbar creating a shallow.
"'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."
- 2 Any large number of persons or things.
"Shoals of tourists"
- 3 a large group of fish wordnet
- 4 A shallow in a body of water.
"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."
- 5 A large number of fish (or other sea creatures) of the same species swimming together. collective
"c. 1661, Edmund Waller, On St. James's Park Beneath, a shoal of silver fishes glides."
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 a stretch of shallow water wordnet
- 7 a sandbank in a stretch of water that is visible at low tide wordnet
Verb
- 1 To arrive at a shallow (or less deep) area.
- 2 To collect in a shoal; to throng.
"The fish shoaled about the place."
- 3 become shallow wordnet
- 4 To cause a shallowing; to come to a more shallow part of. transitive
"Noting the rate at which she shoals her water -[…]"
- 5 make shallow wordnet
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To become shallow.
"The colour of the water shows where it shoals."
Adjective
- 1 Shallow. archaic
"shoal water"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Tom and Mary were on the verge of diving, off the left edge of the sentence, in the infinite corpus, when they spotted underneath a shoal of hungry contributors, teeth out, ready to jump on them and shred their mistakes down to the last one."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "shoal"?
Common synonyms include: school, shallow, a mass of, a school, a world of, ankle deep.
How do you use "shoal" in a sentence?
Tom and Mary were on the verge of diving, off the left edge of the sentence, in the infinite corpus, when they spotted underneath a shoal of hungry contributors, teeth out, ready to jump on them and shred their mistakes down to the last one.
How do you pronounce "shoal"?
Pronounced /ʃəʊl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
1570, presumably from Middle English *schole (“school of fish”), from Old English sċeolu, sċolu (“troop or band of people, host, multitude, division of army, school of fish”), from Proto-West Germanic *skolu, from Proto-Germanic *skulō (“crowd”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to divide, split, separate”). Cognate with West Frisian skoal (“shoal”), Middle Low German schōle (“multitude, troop”), Dutch school (“shoal of fishes”). Doublet of school.