Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act or process of winding silk, as from the cocoons.
  • noun The use of the reel of an anglers' rod.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb Present participle of reel.

Etymologies

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Examples

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  • Are you reelin' in the years, stowin' away the time

    Are you gatherin' up the tears, have you had enough of mine?

    --Steely Dan

    November 23, 2007

  • Love, we have trod the floors of Morn, 5

    And watched Dawn’s reeling galleons die;

    The sunset’s panoramic hills—

    Love, we have known them, you and I.

    - J. Corson Miller, 'Transformation'.

    September 21, 2009

  • "REGIONAL NOTE: In the granite quarries of Maine, stones for paving were once shaped by men using small hammers called reels. Crews of 30 men at a time would use these hammers. The resulting “shattering noise as the pieces of the granite were shaped. . . . gave Mainers a word for any sustained hubbub--reelin'” (John Gould). Reeling can denote noise made by humans as well: She told the children to hush their reeling."

    --The American Heritage Dictionary

    August 23, 2010