Hypertext Webster Gateway: "reel"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Reel \Reel\, v. 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Reel \Reel\, v. 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Reel \Reel\ (r?l), n. [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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Reel \Reel\, n. [AS. kre?l: cf. Icel. kr?ll 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Reel \Reel\, n.
The act or motion of reeling or staggering; as, a drunken
reel. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
reel
n 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 [syn: {bobbin}, {spool}]
5: a lively dance of Scottish highlanders; marked by circular
moves and gliding steps [syn: {Scottish reel}]
6: an American country dance which starts with the couples
facing each other in two lines [syn: {Virginia reel}]
v 1: walk as if unable to control one's movements [syn: {stagger},
{keel}, {lurch}, {swag}, {careen}]
2: revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis; "The
dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy"
[syn: {spin}, {spin around}, {whirl}, {gyrate}]
3: move unsteadily or with a weaving or rolling motion [syn: {wamble},
{waggle}]
4: wind onto or off a reel
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