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# shoal

noun (a shoal, shoals); adjective/verb (shoal, shoals, shoaled, shoaling — rare)

«shoal» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A shoal is a large group of fish swimming together. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#m1)
2. A shoal is also a shallow place in a sea or river, often a sandbank, that can be dangerous for boats. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#m2)
3. (informal, UK) A shoal of things is a large number of them: shoals of letters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#m3)

### In the lessons

In science lessons, fish swim in shoals for safety: it is harder for a predator to pick out one fish, and many eyes spot danger. Herring, sardines and mackerel form shoals. In geography and history, ships ran aground on shoals near coasts; lighthouses warn of them. Phrases: «a shoal of fish», «swim in shoals», «run aground on a shoal».

### Examples

- A shoal of silver fish flashed past the boat. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#x1)
- Fish swim in shoals to stay safe from sharks. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#x2)
- The dolphins herded the shoal of sardines into a ball. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#x3)
- The ship ran aground on a hidden shoal. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#x4)
- Shoals of mackerel came close to the shore. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#x5)
- The lighthouse warns sailors about the shoals. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#x6)
- Men can’t come down the cliffs, even if there were any men; and the shoals to seaward would knock a ship to splinters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/#x7)

### Note

A «school» of fish means almost the same; scientists sometimes say a shoal is a loose group and a school moves together. Collective nouns: a shoal of fish, a flock of birds, a herd of cows.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «shoal» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/shoal/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«shoal» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/shoal.html) on Mova free.