Adjacent Words

Eel definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

EEL, n. A species of Muraena, a genus of fishes belonging to the order of apodes. The head is smooth; there are ten rays in the membrane of the gills; the eyes are covered with a common skin; the body is cylindrical and slimy. Eels, in some respects, resemble reptiles, particularly in their manner of moving by a serpentine winding of the body; and they often creep upon land and wander about at night in search of snails or other food. In winter, they lie buried in mud, being very impatient of cold. They grow to the weight of 15 or 20 pounds; and the conger eel is said to grow to a hundred pounds in weight, and to 10 feet in length. They are esteemed good food.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the fatty flesh of eel; an elongate fish found in fresh water in Europe and America; large eels are usually smoked or pickled
2: voracious snakelike marine or freshwater fishes with smooth slimy usually scaleless skin and having a continuous vertical fin but no ventral fins

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English ele, from Old English ?l; akin to Old High German ?l eel Date: before 12th century 1. a. any of numerous voracious elongate snakelike bony fishes (order Anguilliformes) that have a smooth slimy skin, lack pelvic fins, and have the median fins confluent around the tail — compare American eel b. any of numerous other elongate fishes (as of the order Synbranchiformes) 2. any of various nematodes (as the vinegar eel) • eellike adjective • eely adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 any of various snakelike fish, with slender body and poorly developed fins. 2 a slippery or evasive person or thing. Phrases and idioms: eel-grass 1 any marine plant of the genus Zostera, with long ribbon-like leaves. 2 any submerged freshwater plant of the genus Vallisneria. Derivatives: eel-like adj. eely adj. Etymology: OE æl f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Eel Eel, n. [AS. ?l; akin to D., G., & Dan. aal, Icel. [=a]ll, Sw. [*a]l.] (Zo["o]l.) An elongated fish of many genera and species. The common eels of Europe and America belong to the genus Anguilla. The electrical eel is a species of Gymnotus. The so called vinegar eel is a minute nematode worm. See Conger eel, Electric eel, and Gymnotus.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Electric E*lec"tric, Electrical E*lec"tric*al, a. [L. electrum amber, a mixed metal, Gr. ?; akin to ? the beaming sun, cf. Skr. arc to beam, shine: cf. F. ['e]lectrique. The name came from the production of electricity by the friction of amber.] 1. Pertaining to electricity; consisting of, containing, derived from, or produced by, electricity; as, electric power or virtue; an electric jar; electric effects; an electric spark. 2. Capable of occasioning the phenomena of electricity; as, an electric or electrical machine or substance. 3. Electrifying; thrilling; magnetic. ``Electric Pindar.'' --Mrs. Browning. Electric atmosphere, or Electric aura. See under Aura. Electrical battery. See Battery. Electrical brush. See under Brush. Electric cable. See Telegraph cable, under Telegraph. Electric candle. See under Candle. Electric cat (Zo["o]l.), one of three or more large species of African catfish of the genus Malapterurus (esp. M. electricus of the Nile). They have a large electrical organ and are able to give powerful shocks; -- called also sheathfish. Electric clock. See under Clock, and see Electro-chronograph. Electric current, a current or stream of electricity traversing a closed circuit formed of conducting substances, or passing by means of conductors from one body to another which is in a different electrical state. Electric, or Electrical, eel (Zo["o]l.), a South American eel-like fresh-water fish of the genus Gymnotus (G. electricus), from two to five feet in length, capable of giving a violent electric shock. See Gymnotus. Electrical fish (Zo["o]l.), any fish which has an electrical organ by means of which it can give an electrical shock. The best known kinds are the torpedo, the gymnotus, or electrical eel, and the electric cat. See Torpedo, and Gymnotus. Electric fluid, the supposed matter of electricity; lightning. Electrical image (Elec.), a collection of electrical points regarded as forming, by an analogy with optical phenomena, an image of certain other electrical points, and used in the solution of electrical problems. --Sir W. Thomson. Electrical light, the light produced by a current of electricity which in passing through a resisting medium heats it to incandescence or burns it. See under Carbon. Electric, or Electrical, machine, an apparatus for generating, collecting, or exciting, electricity, as by friction. Electric motor. See Electro-motor, 2. Electric osmose. (Physics) See under Osmose. Electric pen, a hand pen for making perforated stencils for multiplying writings. It has a puncturing needle driven at great speed by a very small magneto-electric engine on the penhandle. Electric railway, a railway in which the machinery for moving the cars is driven by an electric current. Electric ray (Zo["o]l.), the torpedo. Electric telegraph. See Telegraph.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(eels) An eel is a long, thin fish that looks like a snake. N-VAR • Eel is the flesh of this fish which is eaten as food. ...smoked eel.