shoaling
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shoal 1
(shōl)n.
1. A shallow place in a body of water.
2. A sandy elevation of the bottom of a body of water, constituting a hazard to navigation; a sandbank or sandbar.
v. shoaled, shoal·ing, shoals
v.intr.
To become shallow: The river shoals suddenly here from eight to two fathoms.
v.tr.
1. To make shallow: The approach to the harbor was shoaled in the storm.
2. To come or sail into a shallower part of.
adj.
Having little depth; shallow.
[Middle English shold, shallow, shallows, from Old English sceald, shallow.]
shoal 2
(shōl)n.
1. A large school of fish or other aquatic animals.
2. A large group; a crowd: a shoal of advisers.
intr.v. shoaled, shoal·ing, shoals
To come together in large numbers: The fish were shoaling.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.