reel
/ˈɹiːl/noun, verb
reel is a noun meaning “A shaky or unsteady gait” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-E-E-L and has one syllable (reel), and it appears 4.8 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of reel is reels.
What does reel mean?
noun
- 1
A shaky or unsteady gait.
- 2
A lively dance originating in Scotland.
- 3
The music of this dance; often called a Scottish (or Scotch) reel.
- 4
A kind of spool, turning on an axis, on which yarn, threads, lines, or the like, are wound.
a log reel
- 5
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.
- 6
A short compilation of sample film work used as a demonstrative resume in the entertainment industry.
- 7
A chronological collection of pictures or short videos published by a user on an app or website and typically only available for a short period.
verb
- 1
To wind on a reel.
- 2
To spin or revolve repeatedly.
- 3
To unwind; to bring or acquire something by spinning or winding something else.
He reeled off some tape from the roll and sealed the package.
- 4
To walk shakily or unsteadily; to stagger; move as if drunk or not in control of oneself.
- 5
To back off, step away, or sway backwards unsteadily and suddenly.
He reeled back from the punch.
- 6
To make or cause to reel.
- 7
To have a whirling sensation; to be giddy.
The high school had a send-off in my honour. It was an uncommon thing for a young man of Rajkot to go to England. I had written out a few words of thanks. But I could scarcely stammer them out. I remember how my head reeled and how my whole
- 8
To be in shock.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce reel?
- /ˈɹiːl/
- [ˈɹʷɪi̯l]
Reel has one syllable, split reel in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-reel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of reel
- reels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- reeling participle, present
- reeled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is reel?
Reel appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Words people confuse with reel
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: real (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Reel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | reel , bobine , enrouleur , embobiner, enrouler , tituber |
| Portuguese | ril , sarilho , enrolar , titubear |
| German | Spule, Trommel , aufrollen , Haspel , Demoband , drehen |
| Spanish | carrete , enrollar, bobinar, embobinar, devanar , reel (ril) |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does reel come from?
From Middle English reel, reele, from Old English rēol, hrēol, from Proto-West Germanic *hrehul, from Proto-Germanic *hrehulaz, *hrahilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *krek- (“to weave, beat”). Cognate with Icelandic ræl, hræll.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).