[f. EEL + SPEAR.] A forked or pronged instrument for catching eels by transfixing them as they lie in the mud. (See quots.)
1555. Eden, Decades W. Ind. (Arb.), 197. Speares … lyke vnto troute speares or yele speares.
1610. Guillim, Heraldry (1679), 235. He beareth … 3 Eel-spears argent.
1785. Sportsman’s Dict., Eel-spear; this instrument is made for the most part with three forks or teeth, jagged on the sides.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Eel-spear. A sort of trident with ten points for catching eels, called in Lincolnshire an eel-stang.
Hence Eel-spearer, Eel-spearing vbl. sb.
1883. G. C. Davies, Norfolk Broads, v. 40. Here and there was an eel-spearer in his punt. Ibid., xxxi. 244. Eel-spearing is quite an athletic occupation.
