Word Direct Answers

What does "shoal" mean?

Shoal: A place where the water of a sea, lake, river, pond, etc., is shallow; a shallow. The depth of your pond should be six feet; and on the sides some shoals for the fish to lay their span. Mortimer. Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory, And sounded all the depths and shoals of honor. Shak.

Additional senses

  1. 2.A sandbank or bar which makes the water shoal. The god himself with ready trident stands, And opes the deep, and spreads the moving sands, Then heaves them off the shoals. Dryden.
  2. 3.To become shallow; as, the color of the water shows where it shoals.
  3. 4.To cause to become more shallow; to come to a more shallow part of; as, a ship shoals her water by advancing into that which is less deep. Marryat.

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