: 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)
: 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
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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.
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Noun
The eel, along with other invasive species, are gaining more of a foothold in the southeastern United States, causing concern among resource and wildlife managers, along with state and local agencies tasked with minimizing adverse effects of nonnative plants and animals.—Wesley Bruer, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2025 But how do eels defy paralysis?—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 8 Sep. 2025 Like Bong, Park has a very deadpan way with sarcasm, and the opening sequence is simply dripping with it: paper company safety executive You Man-su (Lee) is celebrating his wife’s birthday by barbecuing rare, delicious eel steaks, a gift from work to mark 25 years of service.—Damon Wise, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2025 Rainbow snakes primarily feed on American eels, a prey species that has also declined in Florida waters due to overfishing and dams, according to the wildlife commission.—Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 23 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for eel
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English ele, from Old English ǣl; akin to Old High German āl eel
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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