eel

American  

[eel] / il /

noun

• eel,
  plural
• eels
  plural

1. any of numerous elongated, snakelike marine or freshwater fishes of the order Apodes, having no ventral fins.

2. any of several similar but unrelated fishes, as the lamprey.

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eel British  

/ iːl /

noun

1. any teleost fish of the order Apodes (or Anguilliformes ), such as the European freshwater species Anguilla anguilla, having a long snakelike body, a smooth slimy skin, and reduced fins

2. any of various other animals with a long body and smooth skin, such as the mud eel and the electric eel

3. an evasive or untrustworthy person

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eel Idioms  

1. see slippery as an eel.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• eel-like
  adjective
• eellike
  adjective
• eely
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• eel
  plural
• eels
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of eel

before 1000; Middle English ele, Old English ēl, ǣl; cognate with Dutch aal, German Aal, Old Norse āll

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Explanation

An eel is a fish that's so long and skinny it resembles a snake. Most eels live in very shallow ocean waters, burrowing into the sand there. Eels are a type of fish, and though they are as long and flexible as snakes, they don't have scales, and if you look closely you can see they have a long, low fin. Eels are famous for being slippery, and in fact to be "as slippery as an eel" means to be so sneaky and cunning that you can get away with something illegal or illicit. This figurative meaning dates from the 16th century.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

eel eels

When Reichl first took over the food section at the LA Times, she got a lot of pushback for covering international restaurants and including recipes for things like goat soup, sea slugs, and eel.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026

Lucy Galvin, the city council leader, said she and other residents had noticed dead pike, carp, roach, eel, rudd and dace.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

Last month, the Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir announced a series of measures for the Lough Neagh eel fishery, to ensure long-term recovery of stocks.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

West Cumbria Rivers Trust is dismantling a redundant weir at Glinger Burn near Longtown to help the eel and other fish migrate up and down the river more easily.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Nereus plunged into the water and turned into a slimy eel.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

Modern European and American eels undertake extraordinary migrations, traveling thousands of kilometers from freshwater rivers to reproduce in the Sargasso Sea.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

Magnetite particles have been found in eels, although scientists have not yet directly imaged those particles inside their cells and tissues.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

The EA is also investigating another incident nearby at Brislington Brook, where dead fish and eels, foam on the water and "an intense chemical smell" were reported by volunteers.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

"The price of diesel was just the last straw," he said, after other key concerns including catch limits on bluefin tuna and new regulations for fishing eels.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

The roads on the map twined and twisted round each other, hesitating, then they rose up off the paper, no longer roads, but thick eels with amber eyes.

From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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