noun

• A low bank or reef of coral, rock, or sand, especially one on the islands in Spanish America.

  Compare with key

  ‘Nansha is contested by PRC, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines and comprises 104 islands, reefs, cays and banks.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Parola Island and the Lawak, Panata and Rizal Reefs are among a group of islands, reefs and cays claimed by the Philippines in the Spratlys.’
  • ‘Heron is a tiny Barrier Reef coral cay, of only 17 hectares, in the Capricornia Group of islands of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.’
  • ‘How policy trickles down from UNESCO headquarters in Europe to a sand cay on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef half a world away is something else entirely.’
  • ‘The archipelago consists of approximately seven hundred islands and cays, plus nearly 2,400 reefs and rock formations.’
  • ‘Boobies that nest on the ground, the masked gannet and the brown booby, are also found on remote cays of the Great Barrier Reef.’
  • ‘Low Isles make the most minimal of archipelagos; just two islands; the one, a small sunny cay of coral sand, and the other, a dark wilderness of mangroves.’
  • ‘Free-spirited British adventurers were believed to have settled illicitly within the cays and reefs of a coast once claimed by Spain.’
  • ‘On one of these cays the social behavior and population dynamics of the species have been studied for over 30 years.’
  • ‘There are about 50 islands and cays (most of which are uninhabited) in the US Virgin Islands, which lie about 40 miles east of Puerto Rico.’
  • ‘But many of the 700 islands and 2,000 cays that make up the archipelago are either uninhabited or have much smaller-scale tourism.’
  • ‘There are over 700 islands and 3,000 cays in the Bahamas.’
  • ‘Many of the experts agree that the future of the lizard populations will depend on the fate of the lizards on these cays (islands).’
  • ‘Here we are a nation just some islands and cays just 100 miles away from the richest superpower in the world, and we don't have running water everywhere.’
  • ‘Instead, the uniform azure of the sea was broken only by the colours of the coral cays: turquoise, tourmaline, amethyst and lapis lazuli.’
  • ‘It has more than 1,000 islands, from sandy cays to rainforest isles, and supports prolific marine life.’
  • ‘You can enjoy brilliant corals, pristine cays, white sandy beaches and endless marine life.’
  • ‘The Abacos are a group of islands and cays stretching across 30 miles of shallow sparkling water.’
  • ‘If you're a non-swimmer, take a tour that brings you to a coral cay rather than the open sea.’
  • ‘The Pandora survivors managed to climb aboard tenders and reach the safety of a sand cay.’

  Synonyms

  shoal, bar, sandbar, sandbank, spit