eel

noun

• a snake-like fish with a slender elongated body and poorly developed fins, proverbial for its slipperiness: the man was wanted in a dozen countries but was as slippery as an eel

  • Order Anguilliformes: many families, in particular Anguillidae, which comprises mainly freshwater eels that breed in the sea, including the common Anguilla anguilla of Europe and A. rostrata of America
• used in names of unrelated fishes that resemble the true eels, e.g. electric eel, moray eel.