Dictionary

areel en · ADJ

Etymology

From a- + reel.

Meanings

1. Reeling; spinning or moving unsteadily, especially from shock, surprise, or confusion.
   • And when I turn aside in your garden, shunning your fierce black-and-scarlet petals to bring back my senses with English stocks and pansies, the sight of your Taj through the trees sends my brain areel again. 1899, George Warrington Steevens, In India, page 140:
   • I scrambled dizzily to my feet, my mind areel at being so suddenly transported from a dream-world of terror to an actuality scarcely less frightening. 1954, Walter Karig, Don't Tread on Me, page 109:
   • Riddles sent him areel. 1995, Peter Davison, The Poems of Peter Davison, 1957-1995, page 226:

Forms