shoal.

A shallow underwater rise or bank of sand, gravel, or other material.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• sand shoal
• submerged shoal
• run onto a shoal

On the page

The boat scraped across a shoal near the river mouth.

Paler water betrayed the shoal beneath the bay.

At low tide, birds gathered along the exposed shoal.

Usage notes

Primary category: environment. A submerged feature that can obstruct boats; the separate fish-group sense is also common. Plural: shoals