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
In 1952: The United States tested the first hydrogen bomb on the Eniwetok atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in a blast equivalent to 10.4 megatons of TNT, hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
—
Lorenzino Estrada, The Arizona Republic, 2 Nov. 2024
Ambitious coral restoration efforts are underway across the atolls of the Maldives — with the help of some hands-on guests.
—Betsy Andrews, Travel + Leisure, 30 Oct. 2024
In The Island of the Colorblind, the chronicle of his journey to a tiny Micronesian coral atoll called Pingelap, beloved neurologist Oliver Sacks writes about its isolated community of congenital achromats—those who are born completely colorblind.
—Kanya Kanchana, Longreads, 15 Oct. 2024
There probably isn’t a bad place to fish along Belize’s portion of the Mesoamerican Reef, but the country’s atolls have become hot spots.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 7 May 2022
See all Example Sentences for atoll 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Lorenzino Estrada, The Arizona Republic, 2 Nov. 2024
Ambitious coral restoration efforts are underway across the atolls of the Maldives — with the help of some hands-on guests.
—Betsy Andrews, Travel + Leisure, 30 Oct. 2024
In The Island of the Colorblind, the chronicle of his journey to a tiny Micronesian coral atoll called Pingelap, beloved neurologist Oliver Sacks writes about its isolated community of congenital achromats—those who are born completely colorblind.
—Kanya Kanchana, Longreads, 15 Oct. 2024
There probably isn’t a bad place to fish along Belize’s portion of the Mesoamerican Reef, but the country’s atolls have become hot spots.
—Graham Averill, Outside Online, 7 May 2022
See all Example Sentences for atoll
Dictionary Entries Near atoll
Cite this Entry
“Atoll.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atoll. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share