reel
( reels plural & 3rd person present) ( reeling present participle) ( reeled past tense & past participle )
1 n-count A reel is a cylindrical object around which you wrap something such as cinema film, magnetic tape, fishing line, or cotton thread.
(mainly BRIT) oft N of n
...a 30m reel of cable.
in AM, usually use spool
2 verb If someone reels, they move about in an unsteady way as if they are going to fall.
He was reeling a little. He must be very drunk... V
He lost his balance and reeled back... V adv/prep
3 verb If you arereeling from a shock, you are feeling extremely surprised or upset because of it.
usu cont
I'm still reeling from the shock of hearing of it... V from n
It left us reeling with disbelief. V prep
4 verb If you say that your brain or your mind is reeling, you mean that you are very confused because you have too many things to think about.
His mind reeled at the question. V reel in phrasal verb If you reel in something such as a fish, you pull it towards you by winding around a reel the wire or line that it is attached to.
Gleacher reeled in the first fish... V P n (not pron) reel off phrasal verb If you reel off information, you repeat it from memory quickly and easily.
She reeled off the titles of a dozen or so of the novels. V P n (not pron), Also V n P
Translation English - Cobuild Collins Dictionary
reel
1 falter, lurch, pitch, rock, roll, stagger, stumble, sway, totter, waver, wobble
2 go round and round, revolve, spin, swim, swirl, twirl, whirl
English Collins Dictionary - English synonyms & Thesaurus
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"Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners 4th edition published in 2003 © HarperCollins Publishers 1987, 1995, 2001, 2003 and Collins A-Z Thesaurus 1st edition first published in 1995 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995"