Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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name
A township in Cass County, Indiana, United States, probably named after the Eel River.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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noun
Any freshwater fish of the order Anguilliformes, which are elongated and resemble snakes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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noun
A European eel (Anguilla anguilla).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Other ray-finned fishes:
An electric eel (any knifefish of the genus Electrophorus)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Other ray-finned fishes:
In the order Synbranchiformes:
A swamp eel (any fish in the family Synbranchidae).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Other ray-finned fishes:
In the order Synbranchiformes:
An earthworm eel, also called the spineless eel (any fish in the family Chaudhuriidae).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Other ray-finned fishes:
In the order Synbranchiformes:
A spiny eel (any fish in the family Mastacembelidae).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Other ray-finned fishes:
A deep-sea spiny eel (any fish in the family Notacanthidae).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Certain amphibians:
A conger eel, also called the Congo eel, amphiuma, and Congo snake (any salamander of the genus Amphiuma).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Certain amphibians:
A two-legged eel, also called the mud eel and lesser siren, Siren intermedia.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Certain amphibians:
A leopard eel, also called the leopard siren and reticulated siren, Siren reticulata.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
Certain amphibians:
A rubber eel, Typhlonectes natans.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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noun
Various other animals that resemble true eels, chiefly in shape:
A vinegar eel, a roundworm of species Turbatrix aceti.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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noun
Someone or something that is sneaky and/or hard to catch.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Synonyms: none provided
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verb
To fish for eels.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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verb
To move with a sinuous motion like that of an eel.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
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noun
voracious snakelike marine or freshwater fishes with smooth slimy usually scaleless skin and having a continuous vertical fin but no ventral fins
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: soft-finned fish, malacopterygian
Narrower terms: elver, common eel, freshwater eel, tuna, Anguilla sucklandii, moray, moray eel, conger, conger eel
noun
the fatty flesh of eel; an elongate fish found in fresh water in Europe and America; large eels are usually smoked or pickled
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: fish
Narrower terms: smoked eel, elver
History
From Middle English el (“eel”), from Old English ǣl (“eel”), from Proto-West Germanic *āl (“eel”), from Proto-Germanic *ēlaz (“eel”), which is of unknown origin. Cognates Cognate with West Frisian iel (“eel”), Dutch aal (“eel”), German Low German Aal, Ool (“eel”), German Aal (“eel”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ål (“eel”), Faroese állur, álur (“eel”), Icelandic áll (“eel”).
Across languages
197 source translations are retained for this English entry.
