REEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reel mean? 

• REEL (noun)
  The noun REEL has 6 senses:

1. a roll of photographic film holding a series of frames to be projected by a movie projector

2. music composed for dancing a reel

3. winder consisting of a revolving spool with a handle; attached to a fishing rod

4. a winder around which thread or tape or film or other flexible materials can be wound

5. a lively dance of Scottish Highlanders; marked by circular moves and gliding steps

6. an American country dance which starts with the couples facing each other in two lines

  Familiarity information: REEL used as a noun is common.

• REEL (verb)
  The verb REEL has 3 senses:

1. walk as if unable to control one's movements

2. revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis

3. wind onto or off a reel

  Familiarity information: REEL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A roll of photographic film holding a series of frames to be projected by a movie projector

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("reel" is a kind of...):

film; photographic film (photographic material consisting of a base of celluloid covered with a photographic emulsion; used to make negatives or transparencies)

Derivation:

reel (wind onto or off a reel)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Music composed for dancing a reel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("reel" is a kind of...):

dance music (music to dance to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Winder consisting of a revolving spool with a handle; attached to a fishing rod

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("reel" is a kind of...):

winder (mechanical device around which something can be wound)

Holonyms ("reel" is a part of...):

fishing pole; fishing rod (a rod of wood or steel or fiberglass that is used in fishing to extend the fishing line)

Holonyms ("reel" is a member of...):

fishing gear; fishing rig; fishing tackle; rig; tackle (gear used in fishing)

Derivation:

reel (wind onto or off a reel)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A winder around which thread or tape or film or other flexible materials can be wound

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

bobbin; reel; spool

Hypernyms ("reel" is a kind of...):

winder (mechanical device around which something can be wound)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reel"):

filature (a bobbin used in spinning silk into thread)

shuttle (bobbin that passes the weft thread between the warp threads)

Derivation:

reel (wind onto or off a reel)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A lively dance of Scottish Highlanders; marked by circular moves and gliding steps

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

reel; Scottish reel

Hypernyms ("reel" is a kind of...):

square dance; square dancing (American country dancing in which couples form squares)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "reel"):

highland fling (a vigorous Scottish reel)

eightsome (a Scottish reel for eight dancers)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An American country dance which starts with the couples facing each other in two lines

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

reel; Virginia reel

Hypernyms ("reel" is a kind of...):

longways; longways dance (country dancing performed with couples in two long lines facing each other)

• REEL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they reel    ... he / she / it reels   
Past simple: reeled   
Past participle: reeled   
-ing form: reeling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Walk as if unable to control one's movements

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

careen; keel; lurch; reel; stagger; swag

Context example:

The drunken man staggered into the room

Hypernyms (to "reel" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

reeler (someone who walks unsteadily as if about to fall)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

gyrate; reel; spin; spin around; whirl

Context example:

The dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy

Hypernyms (to "reel" is one way to...):

go around; revolve; rotate (turn on or around an axis or a center)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reel"):

whirligig (whirl or spin like a whirligig)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Wind onto or off a reel

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "reel" is one way to...):

roll; twine; wind; wrap (arrange or or coil around)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reel"):

reel off; unreel (unwind from or as if from a reel)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

reel (a winder around which thread or tape or film or other flexible materials can be wound)

reel (winder consisting of a revolving spool with a handle; attached to a fishing rod)

reel (a roll of photographic film holding a series of frames to be projected by a movie projector)

 Context examples 

She reeled toward Hans. "Take me to the cabin, Hans," she managed to articulate. "And let me rest," she added. "Just let me rest, and rest, and rest."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

At dinner he asked the hunters for a remedy for headache, and by evening, strong man that he was, he was half-blind and reeling about the cabin.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

They reeled about the room, locked in each other's arms, and came down with a crash across the splintered wreckage of a wicker chair.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Nor would he allow anyone to leave the inn till he had drunk himself sleepy and reeled off to bed.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He reeled and would have fallen had we not caught him.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The reel of silk has run smoothly enough so far; but I always knew there would come a knot and a puzzle: here it is.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Dead!” I thought it was the office reeling, and not I, as one of the clerks caught hold of me.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

And then, blind and reeling, he followed at Beauty Smith's heels back to the fort.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

All this she reeled off in a loud voice, and then glanced with sidelong, questioning eyes at Alleyne for his approval.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It would make them sometimes hug, and sometimes tear one another; they would howl, and grin, and chatter, and reel, and tumble, and then fall asleep in the mud.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)