reel off

verb

reeled off; reeling off; reels off

transitive verb

1

: to tell or recite readily and usually at length

reel off a few jokes to break the ice

2

: to chalk up usually as a series

Synonyms

• recite
• repeat
• say

Examples of reel off in a Sentence

he's able to reel off the names of all the U.S. presidents, in historical order and without pausing

her friend proceeded to reel off the roster of losers that she had dated over the years

Recent Examples on the Web

After three straight drives in the second half without a first down, the Packers reeled off three in a row to start their next drive but still didn’t score on it after a shotgun run to Jacobs was stuffed well short on fourth and 2 from Seattle’s 39-yard line. —Michael-Shawn Dugar, The Athletic, 16 Dec. 2024

To open up the third, Tamale reeled off a 67-yard run. —Justice Delos Santos, The Mercury News, 7 Dec. 2024

Pretty much everyone can reel off the latest dollar-to-peso conversion rates (official and black market), the minutiae of fuel-price fluctuations, and fiercely defended opinions about which past government has screwed things up the most. —Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024

Or will the Vikings reel off their fourth win in a row? —Kilty Cleary, Newsweek, 24 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

reel off

verb

: to tell or recite rapidly and easily

reeled off the right answers