The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Reel \Reel\ (r[=e]l), n. [AS. hre['o]l: cf. Icel. hr[ae]ll a
   weaver's reed or sley.]
   1. A frame with radial arms, or a kind of spool, turning on
      an axis, on which yarn, threads, lines, or the like, are
      wound; as, a log reel, used by seamen; an angler's reel; a
      garden reel.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A machine on which yarn is wound and measured into lays
      and hanks, -- for cotton or linen it is fifty-four inches
      in circuit; for worsted, thirty inches. --McElrath.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. (Agric.) A device consisting of radial arms with
      horizontal stats, connected with a harvesting machine, for
      holding the stalks of grain in position to be cut by the
      knives.
      [1913 Webster]

   Reel oven, a baker's oven in which bread pans hang
      suspended from the arms of a kind of reel revolving on a
      horizontal axis. --Knight.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Reel \Reel\ (r[=e]l), n. [Gael. righil.]
   A lively dance of the Highlanders of Scotland; also, the
   music to the dance; -- often called Scotch reel.
   [1913 Webster]

   Virginia reel, the common name throughout the United States
      for the old English "country dance," or contradance
      (contredanse). --Bartlett.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Reel \Reel\ (r[=e]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Reeled (r?ld); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Reeling. ]
   1. To roll. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            And Sisyphus an huge round stone did reel.
                                                  --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To wind upon a reel, as yarn or thread.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Reel \Reel\ (r[=e]l), v. i. [Cf. Sw. ragla. See 2d Reel.]
   1. To incline, in walking, from one side to the other; to
      stagger.
      [1913 Webster]

            They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken
            man.                                  --Ps. cvii.
                                                  27.
      [1913 Webster]

            He, with heavy fumes oppressed,
            Reeled from the palace, and retired to rest. --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

            The wagons reeling under the yellow sheaves.
                                                  --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To have a whirling sensation; to be giddy.
      [1913 Webster]

            In these lengthened vigils his brain often reeled.
                                                  --Hawthorne.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Reel \Reel\ (r[=e]l), n.
   The act or motion of reeling or staggering; as, a drunken
   reel. --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

reel
    n 1: a roll of photographic film holding a series of frames to
         be projected by a movie projector
    2: music composed for dancing a reel
    3: winder consisting of a revolving spool with a handle;
       attached to a fishing rod
    4: a winder around which thread or tape or film or other
       flexible materials can be wound [syn: bobbin, spool,
       reel]
    5: a lively dance of Scottish Highlanders; marked by circular
       moves and gliding steps [syn: reel, Scottish reel]
    6: an American country dance which starts with the couples
       facing each other in two lines [syn: Virginia reel, reel]
    v 1: walk as if unable to control one's movements; "The drunken
         man staggered into the room" [syn: stagger, reel,
         keel, lurch, swag, careen]
    2: revolve quickly and repeatedly around one's own axis; "The
       dervishes whirl around and around without getting dizzy"
       [syn: spin, spin around, whirl, reel, gyrate]
    3: wind onto or off a reel

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

147 Moby Thesaurus words for "reel":
   Charybdis, Chinese windlass, Spanish windlass, avoid, be drunk,
   be intoxicated, blench, blink, blunder, bob, bobble, call off,
   capstan, careen, career, centrifugate, centrifuge, coggle, crab,
   crank, crank in, cringe, dangle, dizzy round, dodge, draw back,
   draw in, draw taut, duck, eddy, enumerate, evade, fade, fall back,
   falter, flinch, flounce, flounder, fluctuate, flutter, gurge, gyre,
   hang back, heave, hobbyhorse, itemize, jib, labor, librate, list,
   lurch, maelstrom, make heavy weather, name, nutate, oscillate,
   pass out, pendulate, pirouette, pitch, pitch and plunge,
   pitch and toss, plunge, pound, pull back, pull in, purl, quail,
   rat race, rear, recite, recoil, reel back, reel in, reel off,
   resonate, retreat, review, rock, roll, round, run over,
   run through, scend, see double, seethe, shake, sheer off, shrink,
   shrink back, shy, sidestep, spin, stagger, stammer, start aside,
   start back, struggle, stumble, surge, swag, sway, swerve, swim,
   swing, swinging, swirl, tackle, tauten, teeter, thrash about,
   tighten, topple, toss, toss and tumble, toss and turn, totter,
   trim, tumble, turn, turn aside, twirl, vacillate, vibrate,
   volutation, vortex, wag, waggle, wallop, wallow, wave, waver,
   weasel, weasel out, weave, welter, wheel, whirl, whirligig,
   whirlpool, whirlwind, wince, winch, wind in, windlass, wobble,
   yaw