Word.ws English Dictionary

reeling

/ˈɹiːlɪŋ/

reeling is the present participle and gerund of reel.

Meaning of reel

Verb

reel (third-person singular simple present reels, present participle reeling, simple past and past participle reeled)

  1. To wind on a reel.
  2. To spin or revolve repeatedly.
  3. 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.
  4. 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
  5. To back off, step away, or sway backwards unsteadily and suddenly.
    • He reeled back from the punch.
  6. To make or cause to reel.

See all 19 meanings of reel

Noun

reeling (plural reelings)

  1. The motion of something that reels.
    • Epilepsies, or fallings and reelings, and beastly vomitings. The least of these, even when the tongue begins to be untied, is a degree of drunkenness.1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC

Forms of reeling

Noun
pluralreelings
Adjective
comparativemore reeling
superlativemost reeling

Words formed from reeling

Phrases with reeling

Words that rhyme with reeling

8 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about reeling

What does reeling mean?
Reeling means the motion of something that reels.
What is reeling the present participle and gerund of?
Reeling is the present participle and gerund of reel.
What part of speech is reeling?
Reeling is a noun.
How do you pronounce reeling?
Reeling is pronounced /ˈɹiːlɪŋ/.
What is the plural of reeling?
The plural of reeling is reelings.

Words near reeling in the dictionary

  1. reelevating
  2. Reelfoot
  3. reeligibility
  4. reeligible
  5. reelin
  6. reeling
  7. reeling in
  8. reeling off
  9. reeling out
  10. reeling up
  11. reelingly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: reeling (page history and authors); reel (page history and authors). 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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-reeling.wav.

Cite this entry: “reeling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reeling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.