atoll
Plural: atolls
Noun
- A ring-shaped coral reef or island enclosing a lagoon.
- an island consisting of a circular coral reef surrounding a lagoon
- A type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform.
Examples
- His defensive plays created an atoll of unusable squares in the center of the board.
Origin / Etymology
Borrowed from Portuguese atol, from Dhivehi އަތޮޅު (atoḷu), possibly from Prakrit *𑀲𑀁𑀢𑀻𑀞 (*saṃtīṭha), from Sanskrit *संतीर्थ (*saṃtīrtha, “level ford”). The traditional etymology from Persian آبتل (âb-tal, “water-hillock”) is unlikely.
Scrabble Score: 5
atoll: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordatoll: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
atoll: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 7
atoll: valid Words With Friends Word