creel
Americannoun
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a wickerwork basket worn on the back or suspended from the shoulder, used especially by anglers for carrying fish.
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a basket made of wicker or other material, for holding fish, lobsters, etc.
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a trap for fish, lobsters, etc., especially one made of wicker.
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a framework, especially one for holding bobbins in a spinning machine.
noun
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a wickerwork basket, esp one used to hold fish
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a wickerwork trap for catching lobsters, etc
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the framework on a spinning machine that holds the bobbins
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dialect a wooden frame suspended from a ceiling, used for drying clothes
Etymology
Origin of creel
1275–1325; Middle English crele, of uncertain origin
Explanation
The basket used to hold a fish after it's caught is a creel. When you head out with your fishing pole to catch something for dinner, be sure to remember your creel! Creel has a Scottish origin, and it originally meant "a basket for carrying on the back." The earliest fishing creels were made of wicker, and most of them still are today. Sometimes an angler will keep the fish cool inside the creel by lining it with moss and dipping it in a river or creek. This word is also used to mean "lobster trap," most commonly in Scotland.
Vocabulary lists containing creel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Reduced bureaucracy could benefit west coast creel fisherman who sell directly into Europe and benefit from measures to reduce hold-ups for goods that perish quickly.
From BBC • May 19, 2025
Family friend and local skipper James Robertson suggested she should try her hand at creel fishing on his boat off Elgol.
From BBC • May 12, 2025
Following a biopsy, cancer was found on the right side of the creel fisherman and Airbnb owner's prostate.
From BBC • Dec. 13, 2024
Bally says the fish stocks have dwindled through mismanagement of the seas and that creel fishing would be a more sustainable option.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2023
I galloped down the hall into the library with a fishing creel over my shoulder.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
