From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishreel somebody/something ↔ in phrasal verb1 to wind the reel on a fishing rod so that a fish caught on the line comes towards you It took almost an hour to reel the fish in.2 to get or attract a large number of people or things SYN pull in The programme reels in more than 13 million viewers a show. → reel→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
reel in• You could let them off the hook, or you could reel them in.• I was reeling them in and the bike felt good - but the track was different every lap as it dried.• Ever so subtly, still chatting navigation with me, Neil accommodates, reeling Rachel in at just the right time.• Getting that diploma, conquering it, reeling it in class by class, semester by semester-those books tell us about ourselves.• But remember that the best reels, as in most things, are not cheap.• We flew for an hour and in that time I completed a reel of film in my camera.• A naked girl burst through the crust, and the guest of honor reeled her in on a ribbon leash.• With the reel screaming in protest and the fish performing acrobatics all round the pool I prayed the hook would hold. 