creel

plural creels

1. A woven basket, especially a wicker basket.

   1 more example

   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 not been for the arrival of their guests.

   1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 393

   Synonyms: wick

   1. fishingAn osier basket that anglers use to hold fish.

      Return with a creel of trout for supper.

      1895, R. D. Blackmore, Slain By The Doones, Dodd, Mead and Company, page 6

      1 more example

      Her great creel forehead-slung, she wanders nigh, Easing the heavy strap with gnarled, brown fingers

      1897, William Henley, In Fisherrow

      Synonyms: wick

   2. historicalSuch 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.

      Synonyms: wick

   3. historicalSuch a basket slung on a pack animal; a pannier.

      Synonyms: wick

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

present singular third person creels · participle present creeling · participle past creeled · past creeled

1. transitiveTo place (fish) in a creel.

present singular third person creels · participle present creeling · participle past creeled · past creeled

1. AppalachiaSouthern USTo wrench or sprain.

   […] a "creeled foot " strapped to relieve strained muscles, […]

   1975, Marjorie Chalmers, Better I Stay, page 34

   2 more examples

   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 fell down the embankment, […]

   1916, The South Western Reporter, pages 883-884

   He creeled his ankle when he jumped off the porch. […] Vinegar was a key ingredient in many remedies for a creeled ankle.

   2014 July 25, Anthony Cavender, Folk Medicine in Southern Appalachia, UNC Press Books, →ISBN, pages 114-115

plural Creels

1. A surname.