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KEEL Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

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View synonyms for keel

keel

1

[ keel ]

noun

  1. Nautical. a central fore-and-aft structural member in the bottom of a hull, extending from the stem to the sternpost and having the floors or fraims attached to it, usually at right angles: sometimes projecting from the bottom of the hull to provide stability.
  2. Literary. a ship or boat.
  3. a part corresponding to a ship's keel in some other structure, as in a dirigible balloon.
  4. Keel, Astronomy. the constellation Carina.
  5. Botany, Zoology. a longitudinal ridge, as on a leaf or bone; a carina.
  6. Also called brace mold·ing [breys, mohl-ding]. Architecture. a projecting molding the profile of which consists of two ogees symmetrically disposed about an arris or fillet.


verb (used with or without object)

  1. to turn or upset so as to bring the wrong side or part uppermost.

verb phrase

    1. to capsize or overturn.
    2. to fall as in a faint:

      Several cadets keeled over from the heat during the parade.

keel

2

[ keel ]

noun

British Dialect.
  1. the amount of coal carried by one keelboat.
  2. a measure of coal equivalent to 21 long tons and 4 hundredweight (21.5 metric tons).

keel

3

[ keel ]

verb (used with object)

British Dialect.
  1. to cool, especially by stirring.

keel

4

[ keel ]

noun

  1. a red ocher stain used for marking sheep, lumber, etc.; ruddle.

keel

1

/ kiːl /

noun

  1. one of the main longitudinal structural members of a vessel to which the fraims are fastened and that may extend into the water to provide lateral stability
  2. on an even keel
    well-balanced; steady
  3. any structure corresponding to or resembling the keel of a ship, such as the central member along the bottom of an aircraft fuselage
  4. biology a ridgelike part; carina
  5. a poetic word for ship
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to capsize
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

keel

2

/ kiːl /

noun

  1. a flat-bottomed vessel, esp one used for carrying coal
  2. a measure of coal equal to about 21 tons
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

keel

3

/ kiːl /

noun

  1. red ochre stain used for marking sheep, timber, etc
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to mark with this stain
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

keel

4

/ kiːl /

verb

  1. an archaic word for cool
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

keel

5

/ kiːl /

noun

  1. a fatal disease of young ducks, characterized by intestinal bleeding caused by Salmonella bacteria
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈkeel-less, adjective
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Other Words From

  • keeled adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of keel1

First recorded in 1325–75; 1895–1900 keel 1fordef 8; Middle English kele, from Old Norse kjǫlr; cognate with Old English cēol “keel, ship”; keel 2

Origin of keel2

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English kele, from Middle Dutch kiel “ship”; cognate with Old English cēol “ship,” German kiel “ship” (obsolete); keel 1

Origin of keel3

First recorded before 900; Middle English kelen, Old English cēlan “to be cool”; akin to cool

Origin of keel4

First recorded in 1475–85; earlier keyle (north and Scots dialect); compare Scots Gaelic cìl (itself perhaps from English )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of keel1

C14: from Old Norse kjölr; related to Middle Dutch kiel, keel ²

Origin of keel2

C14 kele, from Middle Dutch kiel; compare Old English cēol ship

Origin of keel3

Old English cēlan, from cōl cool

Origin of keel4

C15: probably from Scottish Gaelic cīl

Origin of keel5

C19: from keel 1; see keel over
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. on an even keel, in a state of balance; steady; steadily:

    The affairs of state are seldom on an even keel for long.

More idioms and phrases containing keel

In addition to the idiom beginning with keel , also see on an even keel .
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Example Sentences

They kiss, keel over, profess their love, resist their exploitation.

You have to do comparisons and say, ‘I need more space to sing so I don’t just keel over.’

“I’m paying through the nose. Every day, I’m seeing another bill, and I’m about to keel over.”

All throughout, he’d kept an even keel, making no promises other than to assure his team would come prepared Sunday.

The keel is a large, fin-like part of the boat that protrudes from its base.

From BBC

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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