Eel Meaning
/iːl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAny freshwater fish of the order Anguilliformes, which are elongated and resemble snakes.
nounA European eel (Anguilla anguilla).
Sentence Examples
Holding an eel too fast is the way to let her escape.
The politician is as slippery as an eel!
CEFR Practice Quiz
The slimy fish known as ____ is often used in Japanese cuisine as unagi.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Holding an ____ too fast is the way to let her escape.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English el (“eel”), from Old English ǣl (“eel”), from Proto-West Germanic *āl (“eel”), from Proto-Germanic *ēlaz (“eel”), which is of unknown origin. Cognates Cognate with West Frisian iel (“eel”), Dutch aal (“eel”), German Low German Aal, Ool (“eel”), German Aal (“eel”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ål (“eel”), Faroese állur, álur (“eel”), Icelandic áll (“eel”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Off the United States, the National Marine Fisheries Service is helping industry explore fisheries for deep shrimp, rattails, chimeras, orange roughy, smoothheads, slackjaw eels, blue hake, skates and dogfish, which the National Fisheries Institute, an industry group, in an effort to improve their marketability, has renamed cape shark."
— 1995 December 26, William J. Broad, “Creatures of the Deep Find Their Way to the Table”, in The New York Times:
"His expression when incredulous. "Why would you think that?" He was a slippery little eel."
— 2003, Catherine Anderson, Only by Your Touch:
"Philosophers and literary critics from ancient times, along with social scientists, physicians, theologians, and biblical scholars more recently, have tried to get a tentative handle, if not a firm grasp, on this "slippery eel" of humor and laughter."
— 2004, F. Scott Spencer, Dancing Girls, Loose Ladies, and Women of the Cloth, page 26:
"John scowled after the dog. "Never fear, my lady. I shall get the sneaky, slippery eel yet.""
— 2016, Jody Hedlund, Newton and Polly: A Novel of Amazing Grace, page 131:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The slimy fish known as ____ is often used in Japanese cuisine as unagi.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Holding an ____ too fast is the way to let her escape.