Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SAND'-EEL, n.

The ammodyte, a fish that resembles an eel. It seldom exceeds a foot in length; its head is compressed, the upper jaw larger than the under one, the body cylindrical, with scales hardly perceptible. There is one species only, a native of Europe. It coils with its head in the center, and penetrates into the sand; whence its name in Greek and English. It is delicate food. – Encyc.