reel off

verb

reeled off; reeling off; reels off

transitive verb

1
: to tell or recite readily and usually at length
reel off a few jokes to break the ice
2
: to chalk up usually as a series

Examples of reel off in a Sentence

he's able to reel off the names of all the U.S. presidents, in historical order and without pausing her friend proceeded to reel off the roster of losers that she had dated over the years
Recent Examples on the Web Most anglers just rinse their fly reels off with freshwater, but that water may not penetrate and flush the coils of thick line on the spool. Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 7 Dec. 2023 The Panthers rebounded in the first round after losing Game 1 against the Boston Bruins and reeled off eight consecutive road wins before Saturday's loss. Mike Brehm, USA TODAY, 5 June 2023 Dardanelle would not score again as Farmington reeled off 42 unanswered points after facing a 21-14 deficit midway through the second quarter when Creed Vega broke a long touchdown run for Dardanelle. Nwa Democrat-Gazette, Arkansas Online, 8 Oct. 2023 The Sailors have reeled off nine consecutive wins since their lone blemish, a 13-12 setback at the hands of Woodbridge in the final of the SoCal Showcase on Sept. 9. Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2023 The crowd, composed mostly of New York and L.A. rap cognoscenti who had invented or dominated the genre, jeered, nearly heckling Outkast offstage — but not before André reeled off a prophesy. August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2023 The Trojans also began last season 1-2 before reeling off 11 straight victories including the conference championship. Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 16 Sep. 2023 On the stump before Republican audiences, the governor still reels off an alphabet soup of anti-woke targets like C.R.T., for critical race theory, and E.S.G., for environmental, social and governance corporate investment policies. Nicholas Nehamas, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023 Most of the acceptance speeches were short and sweet, sidestepping showbiz conventions of reeling off a list of agents, managers and publicists. Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 27 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reel off.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of reel off was in 1837

Dictionary Entries Near reel off

Cite this Entry

“Reel off.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reel%20off. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.

Kids Definition

reel off

verb
: to tell or recite rapidly and easily
reeled off the right answers

More from Merriam-Webster on reel off

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