Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Reel

Reel

(rēl)
,
Noun.
[Gael.
righil
.]
A lively dance of the Highlanders of Scotland; also, the music to the dance; – often called
Scotch reel
.
Virginia reel
,
the common name throughout the United States for the old English “country dance,” or contradance (contredanse).
Bartlett.

Reel

(rēl)
,
Noun.
[AS.
hreól
: cf. Icel.
hræll
a weaver’s reed or sley.]
1.
A frame with radial arms, or a kind of spool, turning on an axis, on which yarn, threads, lines, or the like, are wound;
as, a log
reel
, used by seamen; an angler's
reel
; a garden
reel
.
2.
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.
3.
(Agric.)
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.
Reel oven
,
a baker's oven in which bread pans hang suspended from the arms of a kind of reel revolving on a horizontal axis.
Knight.

Reel

(rēl)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Reeled
(r?ld)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Reeling
. ]
1.
To roll.
[Obs.]
And Sisyphus an huge round stone did
reel
.
Spenser.
2.
To wind upon a reel, as yarn or thread.

Reel

(rēl)
,
Verb.
I.
[Cf. Sw.
ragla
. See
2d Reel
.]
1.
To incline, in walking, from one side to the other; to stagger.
They
reel
to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man.
Ps. cvii. 27.
He, with heavy fumes oppressed,
Reeled
from the palace, and retired to rest.
Pope.
The wagons
reeling
under the yellow sheaves.
Macaulay.
2.
To have a whirling sensation; to be giddy.
In these lengthened vigils his brain often
reeled
.
Hawthorne.

Reel

(rēl)
,
Noun.
The act or motion of reeling or staggering;
as, a drunken
reel
.
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition


Reel

REEL

,
Noun.
[See Reel, to stagger.]
1.
A frame or machine turning on an axis, and on which yarn is extended for winding, either into skeins, or from skeins on to spools and quills. On a reel also seamen wind their log-lines, &c.
2.
A kind of dance.

REEL

,
Verb.
T.
To gather yarn from the spindle.

REEL

, v.i.
To stagger; to incline or move in walking, first to one side and then to the other; to vacillate.
He with heavy fumes opprest, reel'd from the palace and retir'd to rest.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man.
Ps. 107.

Definition 2024


reel

reel

See also: réel

English

Noun

reel (plural reels)

  1. A lively dance of the Highlanders of Scotland; also, the music to the dance; -- often called Scotch reel.
  2. 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
  3. (textiles) 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.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of McElrath to this entry?)
  4. (agriculture) 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.
  5. (film) A short compilation of sample film work used as a demonstrative resume in the entertainment industry.

Translations

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.
    • 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
    • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 30, in The Dust of Conflict:
      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.
    • 1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, Virago Press, paperback edition, page 111
      Sarah reels a little, nevertheless, under the dog's boisterous greeting.
  5. (reel back) To back off or step away unsteadily and quickly.
    He reeled back from the punch.
  6. To make or cause to reel.
  7. To have a whirling sensation; to be giddy.
    • Nathaniel Hawthorne
      In these lengthened vigils his brain often reeled.
  8. To be in shock.
    • 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, "," 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.
  9. (obsolete) To roll.
    • Spenser
      And Sisyphus an huge round stone did reel.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams


Atong (India)

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /reːl/

Etymology

Borrowing from English rail, from Middle English rail, rayl, partly from Old English regol (a ruler, straight bar) and partly from Old French reille; both from Latin regula (rule, bar)

Noun

reel

  1. rains
  2. train

Danish

Etymology 1

Borrowing from French réel (real), from Medieval Latin reālis (actual).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /rɛɛl/, [ʁɛˈɛlˀ], [ʁeˈɛlˀ]

Adjective

reel

  1. real, proper
  2. reliable, trustworthy, honest (about a person)
Inflection
Inflection of reel
Positive Comparative Superlative
Common singular reel 2
Neuter singular reelt 2
Plural reelle 2
Definite attributive1 reelle
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Etymology 2

Borrowing from English reel.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /riːl/, [ʁiːˀl], [ʁiːl], [ɹiːl]

Noun

reel c (singular definite reelen, plural indefinite reeler)

  1. (dance) reel
Inflection