eely

From eel +‎ -y.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈiːli/
• Rhymes: -iːli

eely (comparative eelier, superlative eeliest)

1. Resembling an eel: long, thin and slippery.
   • 1850, George Manville Fenn, Menhardoc‎:

     The great ugly sharky fish was hooked forward by Josh and placed in a great basket, where it lay writhing its eely tail, and flapping its wing-like fins as the boat slowly progressed, and bait after bait was replaced, many being untouched, the thornback, skate, or ray being the only fish taken.

   • 1904, George Manville Fenn, The Ocean Cat's Paw‎:

     That was a great long eely thing; but Joe Cross here says this was more like a great turtle, with flippers and a long neck, and a head like a snake."

   • 1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae:

     Any eely creature that manages to blow itself up from “Pink, lank and warm” to a long wiener doing the hula tends to seize the imagination of us moderns.

   • 2004 August 13, Neil Tesser, “Lou Donaldson Quartet with Dr. Lonnie Smith”, in Chicago Reader‎:

     Veteran alto saxist Lou Donaldson faces the audience with a raised eyebrow and a toothy grin, and his horn's high-pitched, eely timbre--which still has plenty of the grease that made him a soul-jazz hero in the 60s and 70s--complements his squeaky voice.

• Eley