Illustration of atoll
: a coral island consisting of a reef surrounding a lagoon
Did you know?
If you are lucky enough to sail south and west of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, you'll find the Maldives, a group of about 1,200 coral islands and sandbanks that form the Republic of Maldives. Many islands in that independent nation demonstrate the archetypal atoll, and geographers often use them to point out the characteristic features of such coral islands. Given how prevalent atolls are there, it isn't surprising that atoll comes from the name for that kind of island in Divehi, the official language of the Maldives.
Examples of atoll in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And that bomb was the bikini, named after the famous atoll.
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Manon Garrigues, Vogue, 18 June 2024
For months, China and the Philippines have traded barbs over dangerous maneuvers and collisions at the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll in the Philippines' EEZ.
—Reuters, USA TODAY, 17 June 2024
Numerous theories about her disappearance have included her crash landing not in the ocean, but on a remote, uninhabited atoll.
—John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Feb. 2024
Judge, an award-winning architect whose innovations in building focused on environmental sustainability, was hired by Brando to construct a home on the 12-island atoll of Tetiaroa, Tahiti.
—Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 18 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for atoll 
Manon Garrigues, Vogue, 18 June 2024
For months, China and the Philippines have traded barbs over dangerous maneuvers and collisions at the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll in the Philippines' EEZ.
—Reuters, USA TODAY, 17 June 2024
Numerous theories about her disappearance have included her crash landing not in the ocean, but on a remote, uninhabited atoll.
—John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Feb. 2024
Judge, an award-winning architect whose innovations in building focused on environmental sustainability, was hired by Brando to construct a home on the 12-island atoll of Tetiaroa, Tahiti.
—Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 18 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for atoll
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'atoll.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Atoll.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atoll. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.
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