shoals

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

So after a rewrite, Mary Richards launches her best life from the shoals of a broken engagement instead.

From Salon • Jan. 31, 2026

“It’s clear that he has navigated the fraught shoals of the bureaucratic politics of the administration effectively. He hasn’t ticked off anybody who matters, and that’s a lot by itself.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

Hope is always crashing against the shoals of disappointment.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2024

You wanted to be remembered as having held this institution together and steered it through the rocky shoals.

From Slate • May 28, 2024

Unheeding, Ged rowed always slower, looking over his shoulder, choosing a way among channels or shoals and shallows that he alone could see.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin