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

Synonyms of reel off

• recite
• memorize

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

With about two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Lions reeled off a 23-play drive, which included four JSerra penalties and ate up more than 10 minutes. — Joel Beers, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026

Reddick also won the 2024 regular-season points championship and reeled off three consecutive victories to start this season and five in the first nine races. — Jordan Bianchi, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

When the dazed young woman reels off quotes from an obscure self-help book, her new acolytes take her words as gnomic wisdom. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 31 Aug. 2026

And the rest Iowa has reeled off at least eight wins all but one non-pandemic season since 2013. — Eric Olson, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for reel off

• ashraf
• checkoff
• cutoff
• falloff
• handoff
• kickoff
• layoff
• liftoff
• markoff
• markov
• payoff
• playoff

Kids Definition

reel off

verb

: to tell or recite rapidly and easily

reeled off the right answers