coral

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   A hard, often brightly colored material built up from the skeletons of tiny sea animals, forming reefs in warm oceans.

   Grammar: Used as a mass noun when talking about the material: a necklace made of coral.

   Patterns

   • a piece of coral
   • made of coral
   • coral in the sea

   The divers brought up a piece of red coral from the seabed.

   Warm, shallow water is where most coral grows.

   She wore a bracelet made of polished coral.

2. 2nouncountablebiology

   A small sea animal that lives in large groups and produces a hard outer skeleton.

   Grammar: Countable when referring to the living animals themselves: thousands of corals.

   Patterns

   • a colony of coral
   • corals grow
   • reef-building corals

   Each coral is actually a colony of many tiny animals.

   These corals feed on plankton carried by the current.

   Scientists are studying how corals respond to warmer water.

3. 3noununcountable

   A warm pinkish-orange color, like that of red coral.

   Grammar: Usually uncountable as a color word; often placed before a noun: a coral dress.

   Patterns

   • in coral
   • coral pink
   • a coral shirt

   The bridesmaids wore coral, which suited the summer wedding.

   He painted the walls a soft coral.

   Her lipstick was a bright shade of coral.

4. 4adjectivenot comparable

   Having the warm pinkish-orange color of red coral.

   Grammar: Describes a color and is not usually graded, so we say very coral only in casual speech.

   Patterns

   • coral-colored
   • a coral sunset
   • bright coral

   The sky turned a lovely coral color at sunset.

   She chose coral curtains for the living room.

   The little fish had coral stripes along its sides.

Word forms

Common combinations

coral reef

The boat stopped near a large coral reef.

coral bleaching

Rising sea temperatures cause coral bleaching.

a coral island

They spent a week on a small coral island.

coral jewelry

The shop sells silver and coral jewelry.

coral pink

The bedroom walls are painted coral pink.

Synonyms and how they differ

reef

A reef is the whole rocky ridge in the sea, which may or may not be built by coral; coral refers to the material or animals themselves.

Word family

coralline adjective

Relating to or resembling coral, often used of certain sea plants and algae.

Commonly confused: coral or choral? coral or coral / corral?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “coral”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words