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- eel 1a
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 (such as the vinegar eel)
eeled; eeling; eels
1
a
: to fish for eels see also eeling
b
: to fish with eels as bait
2
: to move or make (one's way) sinuously or insidiously : worm
Stories my Russian friends had told me about the hundreds who were trampled at Stalin's funeral came back to me. Finally, we gave up and eeled our way out of there.—
Ian Frazier
Ian Frazier
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There are more than 500 fish species known as eels. They are slender, elongated, and usually scaleless, with long dorsal and anal fi ns that are continuous around the tail tip. Eels are found in all seas, from coastal regions to the mid-depths. Freshwater eels are active, predatory fish with small embedded scales. They grow to maturity in freshwater and return to the sea, where they spawn and die. The transparent young drift to the coast and make their way upstream. Freshwater eels, considered valuable food fish, include species ranging from 4 in (10 cm) to about 111⁄2 ft (3.5 m) long.
Examples of eel in a Sentence
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Keith Phipps, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
European eels are a delicacy in many places around the world, but no one knows how to breed them, according to experts at the Yale School for the Environment.
—Lauren Liebhaber
september 25, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
In addition to the eel pit, Tobler cares for dozens of other animals, including tortoises, lizards and an endangered Australian lungfish.
—Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 16 Sep. 2025
Biologists Mary Brown and Wesley Daniel spot an eel near the surface and scoop it up in a net.
—Wesley Bruer, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2025
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Noun
Crashing into Grattan’s church as the reverend delivers a pseudoscientific sermon about a looming apocalypse, Rafferty gives Grattan his own taste of what the end of the world might look like by choking him with an eel.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 26 Sep. 2025
European eels are a delicacy in many places around the world, but no one knows how to breed them, according to experts at the Yale School for the Environment.
—Lauren Liebhaber
september 25, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
In addition to the eel pit, Tobler cares for dozens of other animals, including tortoises, lizards and an endangered Australian lungfish.
—Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 16 Sep. 2025
Biologists Mary Brown and Wesley Daniel spot an eel near the surface and scoop it up in a net.
—Wesley Bruer, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for eel
Cite this Entry
“Eel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eel. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
eel
noun
plural eels or eel
: any of numerous long snakelike fishes that have a smooth slimy skin and the fins in the middle of the back and bottom continuous around the tail
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