reel
/ˈɹiːl/
reel noun: a shaky or unsteady gait.
Noun
reel (plural reels)
- A shaky or unsteady gait.
- Doubtless the present game of chess was developed through just such fiddling; perhaps someone once thought that the drunken reel of the knight was hostile to the essence of Chess.2010, Andrew Koppelman, The Gay Rights Question in Contemporary American Law, page 92
- A lively dance originating in Scotland.
- So strict is the kirk of Scotland, that one minister was unfrocked for writing a play (in former times); and another was sent about his business for being too fond of whiskey and of dancing the reel of Tullochgorum.1824, Felix M'Donogh, The Hermit in Edinburgh
- The music of this dance; often called a Scottish (or Scotch) reel.
- […]sample the famed waters from the Scottish mountains like a native born, and last but not least, play a reel on the bagpipes in the big hall that set all the laddies and lassies dancing.1913, Forest and Stream, volume 80
- The traditional reel Within a Mile of Dublin, for instance, distorts until it reaches something quasi-industrial.2023 November 13, Patrick Clarke, “‘People’s idea of Irishness is so warped’: John Francis Flynn, the folk singer fighting for Dublin’s spirit”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- A kind of spool, turning on an axis, on which yarn, threads, lines, or the like, are wound.
- a log reel
- an angler's reel
- 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.
- Synonyms:
- showreel
- A chronological collection of pictures or short videos published by a user on an app or website and typically only available for a short period.
- Walking outside is like scrolling reels with your body2026 May 26, epicjoko, Instagram
Verb
reel (third-person singular simple present reels, present participle reeling, simple past and past participle reeled)
- 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.
- They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 107:27
- He, with heavy fumes oppress'd, / Reel'd from the palace, and retired to rest.1725, Homer, “Book II”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC
- To back off, step away, or sway backwards unsteadily and suddenly.
- He reeled back from the punch.
- Terry's fist lashed out, but Simpson, anticipating the blow, stepped quickly to one side. Another followed, however, and caught the older man fairly on the chin, sent him reeling back.1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XX, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 205
- To make or cause to reel.
- To have a whirling sensation; to be giddy.
- In these lengthened vigils his brain often reeled.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC
- The high school had a send-off in my honour. It was an uncommon thing for a young man of Rajkot to go to England. I had written out a few words of thanks. But I could scarcely stammer them out. I remember how my head reeled and how my whole frame shook as I stood up to read them.1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xi
- To be in shock.
- 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...2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, retrieved 31 Oct 2012
- To produce a mechanical insect-like song, as in grass warblers.
- To roll.
- And Sisyphus an huge round stone did reele.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 35
- To bring in or along.
- Frank stood at the sink, and began washing the plates. He realised if he was going to reel his great-aunt into his plan, he was going to have to do it very gently.2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN
Proper noun capitalized: Reel
Reel (plural Reels)
- A surname.
reel meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
reel in Hindi
- spool
- अटेरन aṭeran
- social media temporary publication
- फिरकी phirkī
- to wind on a reel
- अटेरना aṭernā
- to spin or revolve repeatedly
- लपेटना lapeṭnā
reel in Tamil
- சுருள், திரைப்படச்சுருள்
reel in Marathi
- रील, रीळ, रील करण्यासाठी
reel in Urdu
- گراری, چکرانا, ڈگمگانا, جھومنا, لڑکھڑانا
More languagesFewer languages
- reel in Bengali
- নাটাই naţai, লাটাই laṭai
- reel in Telugu
- తూలు tūlu
- reel in Malayalam
- തിരിവട്ടം, ഫിലിം റീൽ, നൂലുരുള
- reel in Kannada
- ಸುರುಳಿ, ಉರುಳೆ, ಕಂಡಿಕೆ, ಜಾನಪದ ನೃತ್ಯ
- reel in Punjabi
- ਰੀਲ, ਰੀਲ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ, ਰੀਲਿੰਗ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
- reel in Gujarati
- રીલ, રીલ કરવા માટે, રીલ કરવા
- reel in Odia
- ରିଲ୍, ରୀଲ, ରୀଲ୍
- reel in Nepali
- रील, रिल, रील गर्न
- reel in Arabic
- بَكَرَة bakara
Examples of reel in a sentence
- Nudge the fruit machine reel.
- A hose reel forms part of a hose trolley or hose cart
- the wagons reeling under the yellow sheaves1770, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: […] W[illiam] Griffin, […], →OCLC:
- 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:
- Sarah reels a little, nevertheless, under the dog's boisterous greeting.1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 111:
Synonyms of reel
Forms of reel
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | reels |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | reels |
| present participle | reeling |
| past participle | reeled |
| past | reeled |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Reels |
Origin of reel
From Middle English reel, reele, from Old English rēol, hrēol, from Proto-West Germanic *hrehul, from Proto-Germanic *hrehulaz, *hrahilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *krek- (“to weave, beat”). Cognate with Icelandic ræl, hræll.
Words formed from reel
- areel
- barley reel
- blooper reel
- B-reel
- cotton reel
- demo reel
- extension reel
- foursome reel
- gag reel
- hose reel
- hosereel
- Leica reel
- log reel
- multireel
- newsreel
- one-reeler
- reelless
- reelman
- reel mower
- reel of cotton
- reel oven
- reel-pot
- reel-to-reel
- reel to reel tape
- reel-to-reel tape
- reel-to-reel tape recorder
- roving reel
- sand reel
- shame reel
- sizzle reel
- two-reeler
- Virginia reel
- reelable
- reeler
- reel in
- reelin
- reel off
- reel out
- reel up
- rereel
- unreel
Phrases with reel
Words that rhyme with reel
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- anneal
- creel
- peal
- peel
- sweal
- congeal
- Izmail
- kneel
- meal
- Neale
- streal
- weal
- awheel
- Castile
- cochineal
- feal
- heal
- Lille
- ordeal
- repeal
- sele
- squeal
- teal
- zeal
- ceil
- debile
- dishabille
- hele
- leal
- lifesteal
- Neil
- Niel
- O'Neill
- reveal
- schlemiel
- seel
- she'll
- shiel
- skeel
- spiel
- square meal
- unseal
- veal
- we'll
- weel
- ye'll
- -meal
- allele
Questions about reel
- What does reel mean?
- Reel means a shaky or unsteady gait.
- What is reel in Hindi?
- Reel in Hindi is अटेरन (aṭeran), फिरकी (phirkī), अटेरना (aṭernā). See Reel meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use reel in a sentence?
- Nudge the fruit machine reel.
- What part of speech is reel?
- Reel can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce reel?
- Reel is pronounced /ˈɹiːl/.
- What is the plural of reel?
- The plural of reel is reels.
Words near reel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: reel (page history and authors); Reel (page history and authors); reel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); reel (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reel (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); নাটাই (Bengali) (page history and authors); reel (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); reel (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); reel (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reel (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reel (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); reel (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-reel.ogg.
Cite this entry: “reel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.