shoal
/ʃəʊl/noun, verb
shoal is spelled S-H-O-A-L: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shoal means “A sandbank or sandbar creating a shallow” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shoal is shoals.
How many letters and syllables are in shoal?
| Letters | 5: S-H-O-A-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is shoal?
Shoal appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce shoal?
- UK /ʃəʊl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-shoal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with shoal?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shoal from its last stressed vowel (/əʊl/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: shola, solah.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of shoal
- shoaler comparative
- shoalest superlative
- shaul
- shawl
- shauld
- schald
- shaud
- shawd
- shoals plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- shoaling participle, present
- shoaled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shoal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sandbank or sandbar creating a shallow.
- 2
A shallow in a body of water.
- 3
Any large number of persons or things.
Shoals of tourists
- 4
A large number of fish (or other sea creatures) of the same species swimming together.
verb
- 1
To arrive at a shallow (or less deep) area.
- 2
To cause a shallowing; to come to a more shallow part of.
- 3
To become shallow.
The colour of the water shows where it shoals.
- 4
To collect in a shoal; to throng.
The fish shoaled about the place.
adjective
- 1
archaicShallow.
shoal water
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shoal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense sandbank:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | banc de sable |
| German | Sandbank |
| Portuguese | banco de areia |
| Spanish | bajío, bajo, banco de arena, sirte, restinga, arricete |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does shoal come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).