shoal

/ʃəʊl/

Etymology

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.

shoal means shallow. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 70 out of 100.

shoal is pronounced /ʃəʊl/.

Why “shoal” is a great word

SHOAL — [Adjective, Noun, Verb] As an adjective, it means shallow; as a noun, it refers to a shallow area in a body of water or a large group, especially of fish; as a verb, it means to become shallow. From Middle English schold, scholde, from Old English sċeald ("shallow"), from Proto-Germanic *skalidaz, past participle of *skaljaną ("to go dry, become shallow"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- ("to dry out"). First recorded before 900. Unlike a "school," which implies a coordinated, purpose-driven formation, or the general adjective "shallow," a shoal is the submerged hazard itself and the teeming, instinct-driven multitude it gathers. It is the sudden, sickening scrape of a keel on submerged grit, the flickering silver shadow of ten thousand bodies moving as one cloud, and the slow, sedimentary verb of a river forgetting its depth. A promise of land, or a trap, depending on your draft.

adj

Shallow.“shoal water”

noun

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.”
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.”
Any large number of persons or things.“Shoals of tourists”
A large number of fish (or other sea creatures) of the same species swimming together.“c. 1661, Edmund Waller, On St. James's Park Beneath, a shoal of silver fishes glides.”

verb

To arrive at a shallow (or less deep) area.
To cause a shallowing; to come to a more shallow part of.“Noting the rate at which she shoals her water -[…]”
To become shallow.“The colour of the water shows where it shoals.”
To collect in a shoal; to throng.“The fish shoaled about the place.”