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Eel vs Reel - What's the difference?

eel | reel |

As nouns the difference between eel and reel

is that eel is any freshwater or marine fish of the order anguilliformes, which are elongated and resemble snakes while reel is real (reality).

As a verb eel

is to fish for eels.

As an adjective reel is

real (true, fact, not fictional).

eel

English

(wikipedia eel) (Anguilliformes)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any freshwater or marine fish of the order Anguilliformes, which are elongated and resemble snakes.
  • The European eel, .
  • Derived terms

    * African eel * cutthroat eel * conger eel * duckbill eel * eelboat * eelbuck * eeler * eelfare * eelfish * eelgrass * eelish * eellike * eelpot * eelpout, eel-pout * eelskin * eelspear * eely * electric eel * European eel * glass eel * Japanese eel * moray eel * mud eel * sand eel * sawtooth eel * slippery as an eel * snake eel * snipe eel * spaghetti eel * thin eel * worm eel

    See also

    * elver

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fish for eels.
  • To move with a sinuous motion like that of an eel.
  • Anagrams

    * * ----

    reel

    English

    (wikipedia reel)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A lively dance of the Highlanders of Scotland; also, the music to the dance; -- often called Scotch reel.
  • A frame with radial arms, or a kind of spool, turning on an axis, on which yarn, threads, lines, or the like, are wound
  • a log reel , used by seamen
    an angler's reel
    a garden reel
  • A machine on which yarn is wound and measured into lays and hanks, -- for cotton or linen it is fifty-four inches in circuit; for worsted, thirty inches.
  • (McElrath)
  • A device consisting of radial arms with horizontal stats, connected with a harvesting machine, for holding the stalks of grain in position to be cut by the knives.
  • A short compilation of sample film work used as a demonstrative resume in the entertainment industry.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To wind on a reel.
  • To spin or revolve repeatedly.
  • To unwind, to bring or acquire something by spinning or winding something else.
  • He reeled off some tape from the roll and sealed the package.
  • To walk shakily or unsteadily; to stagger; move as if drunk or not in control of oneself.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1907, author=
  • , title=The Dust of Conflict , chapter=30 citation , passage=It was by his order the shattered leading company flung itself into the houses when the Sin Verguenza were met by an enfilading volley as they reeled into the calle.}}
  • * Bible, Psalms cvii. 27
  • They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • He, with heavy fumes oppressed, / Reeled from the palace, and retired to rest.
  • * Macaulay
  • the wagons reeling under the yellow sheaves
  • (reel back) To back off or step away unsteadily and quickly.
  • He reeled back from the punch.
  • To make or cause to reel.
  • To have a whirling sensation; to be giddy.
  • * Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • In these lengthened vigils his brain often reeled .
  • To be in shock.
  • * 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/nyregion/new-jersey-continues-to-cope-with-hurricane-sandy.html?hp]," New York Times (retrieved 31 October 2012):
  • New Jersey was reeling on Wednesday from the impact of Hurricane Sandy, which has caused catastrophic flooding here in Hoboken and in other New York City suburbs, destroyed entire neighborhoods across the state and wiped out iconic boardwalks in shore towns that had enchanted generations of vacationgoers.
  • (obsolete) To roll.
  • * Spenser
  • And Sisyphus an huge round stone did reel .

    Quotations

    ; to stagger * 1996 , , Virago Press, paperback edition, page 111 *: Sarah reels a little, nevertheless, under the dog's boisterous greeting.

    Derived terms

    * reel in * reel off

    Anagrams

    * * ----