Both Uses of
atoll
in
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
- In some places, they form atolls, a circular ring surrounding a lagoon or small inner lake that gaps place in contact with the sea.†
Chpt 1 *atolls = islands (that are made of coral reefs)
- This, at least, is the theory of Mr. Charles Darwin, who thus explains the formation of atolls—a theory superior, in my view, to the one that says these madreporic edifices sit on the summits of mountains or volcanoes submerged a few feet below sea level.†
Chpt 1
Definition:
an island made of a coral reef -- often in the shape of a circle