▪ I. eel, n.
(iːl)
Forms: 1 ǽl, eol, 1–6 ele, 5–7 eele, 6 Sc. eill, (5 ȝele, 6 ye(e)le, 7 yeel), 6– eel.
[Com. Teut.: OE. ǽl = MDu. ael (Du. aal), OHG. âl (Ger. aal), ON. áll (Da. aal, Sw. ål):—OTeut. *æ̂lo-z. The ultimate etymology is unknown; the hypothesis that the word is cogn. with the synonymous L. anguilla, Gr. ἔγχελυς, is untenable.]
1. a. The name of a genus (Anguilla) of soft-finned osseous fishes, strongly resembling snakes in external appearance. The best known species are the Common or Sharp-nosed Eel (A. anguilla) found both in Europe and in America, and the Broad-nosed Eel or grig (A. latirostris). The true eels are fresh-water fishes, but migrate to the sea to spawn. b. Used (both in popular and in scientific language) as the name of the entire family Murænidæ, comprising the true eels with several other genera, notably the conger.
| c 1000 ælfric Colloq. in Wr.-Wülcker 94 Hwilce fixas ᵹefehst þu? ælas and hacodas, etc. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 308 Hrefnes geallan..& eles, & feld beon huniᵹ meng to somne. 1052–67 Chart. Eadweard in Cod. Dipl. IV. 242 Foure þousend eol in lenton to carite to ðe abbot. a 1300 Havelok 897 A carte lode..Of grete laumprees, and of eles. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 50 Fyrst flyghe þyn elys, in pese hom smyte. 1528 More Heresyes i. Wks. (1557) 165/2 A blynde bagge full of snakes and eles together. 1528 Paynell Salerne Regim. O iij b, The yele is an vnholsome fyshe. 1586 Cogan Haven Health clxxvi. (1612) 140 An old yeele is wholsomer than a yong. 1671 Salmon Syn. Med. iii. lxxxi. 707 The fat..of a mole, eele, or serpent. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 538 ¶3 They passed to eels, then to parsnips, and so from one aversion to another. 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) III. 2 The Common Eel..forms a connecting link..between the serpents and the fishes. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 27 It is a lucky eel that escapes skinning. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxi. 237 The silver-bellied eel or bed-eel..corresponds to the sharp-nosed eel. |
c. In
fig. phrases, as the type of something ‘slippery’.
| 1524 Duke of Norfolk in St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 224 Whosoever have hym best, is no more sure of hym, than he that hath an ele by the tayle. ? c 1600 Distracted Emp. v. iv. in Bullen O. Pl. III. 258 They have sweete eeles to hould by. 1791 T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 374 He may possibly take an eel by the tail in marrying a wife. |
† d. salt eel: a rope's end used for flogging.
Obs. [From the use of an eel skin as a whip.]
| 1663 Pepys Diary 24 Apr., With my salt eele went down in the parler and there got my boy and did beat him. 1699 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Salt-eel, a Rope's end used to Drub the Boies and Sailors on board of Ship. |
2. Applied popularly to various other fishes resembling eels in their snake-like form.
electric eel:
= gymnotus.
nine-eyed eel: the River Lamprey.
sand eel: the Launce of Ammodyte.
| a 1705 Ray. Syn. Piscium (1713) 154 Sand-eel [Given as a synonym for the launce]. 1810 P. Neill Fishes in Forth 30 (Jam.) Lesser Lamprey..The popular name Nine-eyed-eel arises from the spiracles being taken for eyes. |
3. The popular name for the minute animals (resembling an eel in shape) found in vinegar (
Anguillula aceti) and in sour paste (
A. glutinis). They are Entozoa of the order Nematoidea.
| 1746 Sherwood in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 67 The Eels in sour Paste are the Animalcules in Question. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., The long bodied animalcules, discovered by the microscope in vinegar, sour paste, etc...have been generally distinguished..by the name of eels. 1881 Carpenter Microscope (ed. 6) 695 Anguillulæ or ‘Eels’ of the microscopist. |
4. U.S. A nickname for a New Englander.
| 1837–40 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 318 The eels of New England and the corncrakers of Virginia. |
5. General comb.:
a. attributive, as
eel-boat,
eel-freak,
eel-fry,
eel-line,
eel-man,
eel-net,
eel-oil,
eel-pie,
eel-river,
eel-trap,
eel-weir, and
eel-like adj. and
adv.;
b. objective, as
eel-catching,
eel-fisher,
eel-netting.
| 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads vi. 43 These *eel-boats are precisely like the Noah's ark of childhood. |
| Ibid. xxxi. 237 Naturalists can only rely upon the observations of those whose occupation is connected with *eel-catching. |
| Ibid. vi. 43 Through the night the *eel-fisher sits in his cabin..waiting for the eels the stream will bring to his net. |
| Ibid. xxxi. 235 The *eel fisheries are nearly as valuable as the salmon fisheries. |
| 1882 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 101 This singular *eel-freak. |
| Ibid., Thousands and thousands of *eel-fry all alive in the bodies of eels. |
| 1685 Boyle Effect of Mot. iv. 41 The *Eel-like particles of water. 1838 Dickens O. Twist vii, Eel-like positions. 1871 B. Taylor Faust i. iii. 27 Eel-like gliding, Skipping and hiding. |
| 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xix. 137 Formerly *eel-lines, with a thousand hooks strung on at intervals..used to be set. |
| Ibid. xxxii. 251 The *eelmen, living so much on the water..become very observant. |
| Ibid. xix. 145 The *eel-net is set across the dyke to catch them [eels] in its long ‘poke’. |
| 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 155 An *Eel Pye. 1849 Southey Comm.-Pl. Bk. Ser. ii. 340 Monstrellet mentions horseloads of eel-pies brought from Mantes to the market of Paris. |
| 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxii. 249 The Yare is the best *eel-river of all. |
| 1879 Lubbock Sci. Lect. i. 5 The bladders are on the principle of an *eel-trap, having a closed entrance with a flap which permits an easy entrance, but effectually prevents the unfortunate victim from getting out again. |
| 1868 Peard Water-farm. xvii. 180 At various points in the course of the rivers *eel-weirs are placed. |
6. Special comb.:
eel-babber,
-bobber,
= bobber2 2;
eel-basket, a trap of basket-work with funnel-shaped entrance, allowing the eels to enter, but preventing their escape;
eel-backed a. (see
quot.);
eel-bob (see
bob n.1 7);
eel-buck (see
buck n.4);
eel-cake (see
quots.);
eel-crow (see
quot.);
eel-fork = eel-spear;
eel-hut, the hut occupied by an eel-fisher when engaged in fishing;
eel-leap,
dial. [
leap basket]
= eel-basket;
eel-pick = eel-spear;
eel-picker, one who fishes with an eel-pick; so
eel-picking vbl. n.;
eel-pot = eel-buck; also
fig.;
eel-putchon, (see
quot.);
eel-schuit, an eel-boat;
eel-set,
-setter,
-setting,
-trunk (see
quots.);
eel-ware,
Ranunculus fluitans (Britten and Holland);
eel-weel (misspelt
-wheel)
= eel-buck. Also
eel-grass.
| 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxi. 237 The bunch of worms strung on worsted with which the *eel-babber works. |
| 1726 Dict. Rusticum, *Eel-Back'd Horses, such as have black Lists along their Backs. |
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 196 Hand-lines..snares and *eel-bobs; Indian fishing lines. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads v. 40 An eel-fisher..treading lob-worms on to worsted for the purpose of making an *eel-bob. |
| 1866 Sat. Rev. 21 Apr. 471/1 The present alleged fishery rights for netting and *eel-bucks are to be revised. 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxi. 235 On the Thames..the eels are intercepted in their descent by weirs or frameworks holding basket-work traps, called ‘eel-bucks’. 1885 Sat. Rev. 21 Nov. 673/1 Snigs are only taken in the eel-bucks if they are set with the stream. |
| 1653 Walton Angler x. 189 Small Eeles..The poorer sort..make a kind of *Eele-cake of them, and eat it like as bread. |
| 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 213 *Eel crow [given as the popular name of Columbus migratorius]. |
| 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxii. 250 In these lonely *eel-huts..the eel fishers sat watching their nets. |
| 1877 E. Peacock N.-W. Linc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) *Eel-leap, an eel-trap made of wickerwork. |
| 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxi. 238 They [eels] work down into the soft mud, far beyond the reach of *eel-picks and darts. |
| Ibid. xxvi. 203 The *eel-picker in his little punt..is a common object on the flats. |
| Ibid. xix. 143 *Eel-picking is an art in which some men attain considerable skill. Sometimes an eel-picking match takes place on the Broad. |
| 1631 in T. Hutchinson Coll. Orig. Papers Massachusetts-Bay (1769) 51 The *yeele potts you sent for are made. 1647 J. Eliot Let. 24 Sept. in T. Shepard Clear Sunshine (1648) 28 All winter they sell Brooms, Staves, Elepots, Baskets. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xvi. 143 Manchester Buildings is an eel-pot, which has no outlet but its awkward mouth. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 8 Eel Pot, for use in salt water. |
| Ibid. (ed. 4) 125 *Eel Putchons..are the ordinary eel baskets that are baited and placed in the river during the spring and summer months for eels. |
| a 1865 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. (1867) 269 Dutch *eel-skuyt, a flat-bottomed somewhat cutter-rigged sea-boat. 1899 Eel schuyt [see schuit]. 1905 M. A. Wyllie London to the Nore iv. 42 Gaily painted and varnished Dutch eel-schuits. |
| 157.. H. Manship Gt. Yarmouth in G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxvii, Certen *ele settes..all soch fishe as usually are tacon in the seid settes. 1882 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 97 Eelsets..are nets set athwart the stream for the purpose of catching a..species of eel. |
| Ibid. 98 The oldest Norfolk *eel-setters. |
| 1883 G. C. Davies Norfolk Broads xxxii. 250 This [ebb and flow of the tide] militates against *eel-setting. |
| 1877 E. Peacock N.-W. Linc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) *Eel-trunk, a box with holes in the sides, in which eels are kept alive till wanted for the table. |
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 57 *Eel Wheels or Traps. Lampern Spurts. |
▪ II. eel, v. (
iːl)
[f. the n.] intr. a. To fish for eels.
b. To move or progress sinuously like an eel. Also (with
way)
trans. Cf. eeling gerund
and vbl. n.| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 226 Five..sandwichmen..eeled themselves. ? 1953 Dylan Thomas Lett. (1966) 416, I must..ooze and eel up wheezily. 1962 M. Drabble Summer Bird-Cage xi. 185, I..use a small red plastic colander, and everything eels into the sink as often as not. 1969 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 17 Jan. 6 (Advt.), The Herald 13/60..simply eels its way through town traffic. |