Dictionary entry

Reel (4)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Reel, v. i. [Cf. Sw. ragla. See 2d Reel.] 1. To incline, in walking, from one side to the other; to stagger.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. Ps. cvii. 27.

He, with heavy fumes oppressed,

Reeled from the palace, and retired to rest. Pope.

The wagons reeling under the yellow sheaves. Macaulay.

2. To have a whirling sensation; to be giddy.

In these lengthened vigils his brain often reeled. Hawthorne.