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eel
every eel hopes to become a whale
A phrase highlighting one's ambition. Just like every eel hopes to become a whale, I dream of becoming the CEO one day.
hold an eel by the tail
To try to engage or somehow detain an elusive person or thing. Trying to get in touch with my insurance company is like trying to holding an eel by the tail—I can never get through to a live person! Every time we try to pin charges on the mob boss, it's as hard as holding an eel by the tail because he somehow weasels his way out of them!
skin an eel by the tail
To do something in an ill-advised way. Why are you skinning an eel by the tail? You know you can't back out of the driveway until you clear all that snow out of the way!
be as slippery as an eel
To be devious, scheming, and untrustworthy—and difficult to apprehend. Of course that guy took everyone's money and left town—he's as slippery as an eel!
*slippery as an eel
devious and untrustworthy, but impossible to catch. (*Also: as ~.) Don't sign a lease with that landlord; I think he's as slippery as an eel. The con artist was slippery as an eel. Although he defrauded many people, he never went to prison.
be as slippery as an eel
someone who is as slippery as an eel cannot be trusted
Usage notes: An eel is a long fish which has a body like a snake.
You'd be mad to go into business with him. He's as slippery as an eel. slippery as an eel
Elusive, devious, as in When it comes to talking about his investments, Jim's slippery as an eel. This simile, first recorded about 1412, alludes to the eel's skin, which has tiny scales and is quite slippery when wet.