Shoal | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Shōal, n.

noun

n. [A-S. scōlu, scēolu, a school, a band, a company, multitude, crowd, D. school, school, crowd, M. H. Ger. schoule, school, assembly, D. scholen, to meet. See SHOLE, SCULL, 5, and SKULL.]

Sense 1. A great multitude assembled; a crowd; a throng; as, shoals of people; — said especially of fish.

Fowl of the heaven, and fish that through the wet Sea-paths in shoals do slide. Milton.

Sense 2. [Cf. SHELF, SHALLOW, and N. H. Ger. scholle, a clod, glebe, O. H. Ger. scollo, scolla.] A place where the water of a river, lake, or sea is shallow or of little depth; a sand-bank or bar; a shallow.

Shōal, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [imp. & p. p. SHOALED; p. pr. & vb. n. SHOALING.]

To assemble in a multitude; to crowd; to throng; as, the fishes shoaled about the place.
To become more shallow; as, the water shoals as we approach the town.

Shōal, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. 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. Marryatt.

Shōal, a.

adjective

a. Of little depth; shallow; as, shoal water.