blind eel

9.9

A small eel-like animal with tiny legs and small eyes that lives in muddy water

noun

: anguila ciega

Because of its reduced eyesight, the blind eel navigates by touch and smell.

Examples

Local fishermen sometimes catch a blind eel while trawling for other species.
The blind eel is rarely seen because it lives in deep, muddy waters.
The blind eel is often found in muddy waters.
Have you ever seen a blind eel in the wild?
Because of its reduced eyesight, the blind eel navigates by touch and smell.
Local fishermen sometimes catch a blind eel while trawling for other species.
The blind eel is rarely seen because it lives in deep, muddy waters.

Synonyms

congo snake

vsblind eel

9.9

A long thin water animal like an eel with tiny legs that lives in muddy pools in the southern US

has very reduced limbs rather than distinct pairs of feet

congo eel

vsblind eel

9.9

A thin water animal that looks like an eel and has two pairs of legs that lives in muddy water

has more reduced limbs rather than two small legs

Surface Forms

blind eel singular

blind eels plural

Morphology

blind + eel

The meaning is directly compositional: 'blind' (without sight) + 'eel' (a long, snake-like aquatic animal) yields an eel that cannot see, so a B1 learner knowing both words will infer the basic meaning. While the dictionary note gives a specific zoological referent (an eel-shaped salamander rather than a true eel), that fine taxonomic detail does not prevent the expression from being transparently interpretable from its constituents.

Etymology

Blind eel comes from how the animal looks: it is long like an eel and has very small eyes because it lives in dark, muddy water, so the name means a small water creature with 'poor sight'.