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creel

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creel¹

  • /kɹiːl/

Rhymes with -iːl

Where it comes from

Inherited from Northern Middle English crele, possibly from an Old French root *creille, variant of greille (compare French grille), from Latin crāticula.

noun creels

  1. A woven basket, especially a wicker basket. For this purpose they got an old creel to put him in and some straw to light under it. Seeing the serious turn matters were likely to take, he resolved not to await the trial, but flew up the smoke-hole, and when at the top he cried out that things would have gone very differently with them had it n

    Similar: wick

  2. An osier basket that anglers use to hold fish. Return with a creel of trout for supper.

    Similar: wick

  3. historical Such a basket slung as a backpack for cargo, especially in times and places with limited or nonexistent wheeled transport, as for example among peasants in mountainous regions.

    Similar: wick

  4. historical Such a basket slung on a pack animal; a pannier.

    Similar: wick

  5. A bar or set of bars with skewers for holding paying-off bobbins, as in the roving machine, throstle, and mule.

verb creels · creeling · creeled

  1. transitive To place (fish) in a creel.

creel²

  • /kɹiːl/

Rhymes with -iːl

Where it comes from

Unclear. The English Dialect Dictionary has cites of a British dialectal verb creel "crouch, bend the body" from 1897.

verb creels · creeling · creeled

  1. Appalachia, Southern US To wrench or sprain. For aught that appears in the record, plaintiff's fall was due entirely to the fact that his foot "creeled," and no one can say that his injuries were not due to the fall, but to the fact that he rolled down the embankment. […] he stepped around, and in doing so "creeled his foot in some way" and fe

Creel³

proper noun Creels

  1. A surname.

Translations

Every language

noun osier basket to hold fish

Françaisnasse
DeutschFischkorb
Italianonassa
Tiếng Việtoi

noun bar or set of bars with skewers for holding paying-off bobbins

DeutschGatter
Italianocantra

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Cite this
MLA

"creel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/creel. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

creel. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/creel

Chicago

"creel." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/creel.

BibTeX
@misc{creel_2026,
  title = {creel},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/creel},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}