eel

A long, thin fish with a body like a snake, often found in rivers.

• An eel swam under the boat.
• They caught three eels in the river.
• The eel slipped out of his hands.

Common phrases: freshwater eel, catch an eel, eel fishing

A long South American fish that produces electricity to catch food and defend itself.

• An electric eel can give a powerful shock.
• The aquarium keeps an eel in a separate tank.
• These eels use electricity to find their prey.

Similar words: electric eel

Common phrases: electric eel, eel tank

A kind of long, thin fish that grows in European waters and travels to the ocean to breed.

• The European eel travels far to breed.
• Young eels enter this river from the sea.
• Researchers tracked an eel across the Atlantic.

Similar words: European eel

Common phrases: European eel, silver eel, glass eel

Someone or something that is difficult to catch or that avoids being honest or direct.

• That man is a slippery eel.
• The police could never catch that eel.
• She called him an eel because he avoided every question.

Similar words: slippery customer

Common phrases: slippery eel, an eel

To fish for long, thin fish that look like snakes.

• We used to eel at night.
• He eeled along this river as a boy.
• They went eeling with baited traps.

How to use it: eel in something (They eel in the river after dark.)

Common phrases: eel at night, eel in something

To move with smooth, twisting movements, often through a narrow space.

• She eeled through the crowd.
• The cat eeled into the narrow opening.
• He was eeling past the waiting passengers.

How to use it: eel through something (He eeled through a gap in the fence.); eel past someone (She eeled past the guards.)

Similar words: wriggle, snake, slither

Common phrases: eel through something, eel into something, eel past someone