Past tense of reel
regular verb
The past tense of reel is reeled. The past participle is also reeled.
Forms of reel
| Base form (V1) | reel /ˈɹiːl/ |
|---|---|
| Past tense (V2) | reeled |
| Past participle (V3) | reeled |
| Present participle | reeling /ˈɹiːlɪŋ/ |
| Third person singular | reels /ɹiːlz/ |
Reeled in a sentence
- He reeled off some tape from the roll and sealed the package.
- 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.1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 30, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC
- Something reeled drunkenly in the adyt of his mind, a vertigo.2006, M. A. Foster, The Book of The Ler. From the entry adyt
- Laying on the jagged cobblestones, all I could do was take shaky breaths as I reeled from the white-hot pain.2022 August 15, Christine Ji, “Broken Ankles and Barriers to Accessibility: Reflections from a Skater-Turned-Scooter Girl”, in The…. From the entry darty
- When asked about inspirational influences in his life, he reeled off a list of folks whose names would surprise no one.2008, American Cowboy (magazine), Aug-Sep, vol. 15, no. 2. From the entry reel off
Meaning of reel
- noun A shaky or unsteady gait.
- noun A lively dance originating in Scotland.
- noun The music of this dance; often called a Scottish (or Scotch) reel.
Questions about the past tense of reel
- What is the past tense of reel?
- The past tense of reel is reeled.
- What is the past participle of reel?
- The past participle of reel is reeled.
- Is reel a regular or irregular verb?
- Reel is a regular verb: its past tense adds -ed.
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: reel (page history and authors) and the entries of its forms. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws left out forms marked obsolete, archaic, rare or dialectal and added the examples. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this page: “Past tense of reel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/past-tense/reel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.