reel

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to stagger, sway, or feel unsteady, physically or from shock

   He reeled backward when the heavy door struck his shoulder.

2. 2
   verb

   to wind something onto a reel, or draw it in by turning a reel

   She began to reel in the fishing line as the boat approached shore.

3. 3
   noun

   a revolving cylinder or spool on which thread, cable, film, or fishing line is wound

   The projectionist mounted the final reel of film.

4. 4
   noun

   a lively traditional Scottish or Irish dance, or its music

   The musicians ended the set with a fast reel.

The spool noun descends from Old English hreol ("reel for winding thread"). The verb's sense "sway or stagger" is recorded by the late 1400s. The name of the lively Highland dance, attested in the 1500s, probably developed from the associated whirling movement or from the verb.

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