as in island
a ring-shaped land mass surrounded by water and made of coral
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Recent Examples of atoll
That includes lifeguard Renan Ulloa at the Parks department, which is ending lifeguard service at natural swimming holes known as atolls.
—
Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
The King’s Highway is the only lengthy ribbon of pavement on French Polynesia’s second-largest atoll.
—Joe Sills, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Known as the Xisha Islands in China and Hoang Sa Islands in Vietnam, the chain of reefs and atolls lies about 300 nautical miles south of the Chinese mainland and has long been a regional flashpoint.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 31 Aug. 2025
The reef, a narrow, 18-mile-long atoll in the southern Spratlys, is one of several outposts Vietnam has expanded in recent years as part of its current island-building round, which began in 2021.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atoll
Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025
The King’s Highway is the only lengthy ribbon of pavement on French Polynesia’s second-largest atoll.
—Joe Sills, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Known as the Xisha Islands in China and Hoang Sa Islands in Vietnam, the chain of reefs and atolls lies about 300 nautical miles south of the Chinese mainland and has long been a regional flashpoint.
—Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 31 Aug. 2025
The reef, a narrow, 18-mile-long atoll in the southern Spratlys, is one of several outposts Vietnam has expanded in recent years as part of its current island-building round, which began in 2021.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atoll
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atoll
Noun
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From Ksamil, travelers can catch a 30-minute ferry straight to the Greek island of Corfu—perfect for a day trip filled with beach-hopping, coastal dining, and inland hikes.—
Stacey Leasca,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Sep. 2025
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Benjamin Moore’s Swiss Coffee (OC-45) provides a neutral white that’s not too stark on the cabinets, and Sherwin-Williams’ Austere Gray (SW 6184) adds a bit of contrast on the island.—
Mary Shannon Wells,
Southern Living,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Long Bay Beach, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos No, the island of Provo—the traveler’s gateway to Turks and Caicos’s 40-odd islands and cays—isn’t undiscovered by any stretch of the imagination.—
Kristin Braswell,
AFAR Media,
14 Aug. 2025
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Offshore, cays drift in dreamy isolation—their edges kissed by foamy surf and dotted with nesting Brown Pelicans.—
Lewis Nunn,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The uninhabited islet group in the East China Sea, the Senkaku Islands, is administered by Japan but claimed by China as part of its territory, which is known as the Diaoyu Islands.—
Ryan Chan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Aug. 2025
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The channel forked into a series of smaller canals, each branching farther or looping around islets or petering out into dead ends.—
Nathaniel Rich,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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At the nonprofit Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Anna Marsden leads the largest coordinated coral reef protection and restoration effort globally, securing a $287-million grant from the Australian government in 2022 and $456 million in additional private and philanthropic funding.—
Elisabeth Brier,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
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China has rejected the accusation and accused the Philippines of damaging the coral reef ecosystem in the waterway instead.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN Money,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atoll.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atoll. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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