CIDE DICTIONARY

keel, v. t. & i. [AS. c to cool, fr. c cool. See Cool.].

To cool; to skim or stir. [1913 Webster]
"While greasy Joan doth keel the pot." [1913 Webster]

keel, n.

A brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat. [1913 Webster]

keel, n. [Cf. AS. ceól ship; akin to D. & G. kiel keel, OHG. chiol ship, Icel. kj, and perh. to Gr. gay^los a round-built Phgaylo`s bucket; cf. Skr. g ball, round water vessel. But the meaning of the English word seems to come from Icel. kjölr keel, akin to Sw. köl, Dan. kjöl.].

A longitudinal timber, or series of timbers scarfed together, extending from stem to stern along the bottom of a vessel. It is the principal timber of the vessel, and, by means of the ribs attached on each side, supports the vessel's frame. In an iron vessel, a combination of plates supplies the place of the keel of a wooden ship. See Illust. of Keelson. [1913 Webster]

Fig.: The whole ship. [1913 Webster]

A barge or lighter, used on the Tyne for carrying coal from Newcastle; also, a barge load of coal, twenty-one tons, four cwt. [1913 Webster]

The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and inclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina. See Carina. [1913 Webster]

A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface. [1913 Webster]

In a dirigible, a construction similar in form and use to a ship's keel; in an aëroplane, a fin or fixed surface employed to increase stability and to hold the machine to its course. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Bilge keel (Naut.), a keel peculiar to ironclad vessels, extending only a portion of the length of the vessel under the bilges. Ham. Nav. Encyc. -- False keel. See under False. -- Keel boat. (a) A covered freight boat, with a keel, but no sails, used on Western rivers. [U. S.] (b) A low, flat-bottomed freight boat. See Keel, n., 3. -- Keel piece, one of the timbers or sections of which a keel is composed. -- On even keel, in a level or horizontal position, so that the draught of water at the stern and the bow is the same. Ham. Nav. Encyc. -- On an even keel a. & adv., steady; balanced; steadily.

keel, v. i.

To traverse with a keel; to navigate. [1913 Webster]

To turn up the keel; to show the bottom. [1913 Webster]

To keel over, to upset; to capsize. [Colloq.]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

keel, n. & v.
--n.
1 the lengthwise timber or steel structure along the base of a ship, airship, or some aircraft, on which the framework of the whole is built up.
2 poet. a ship.
3 a ridge along the breastbone of many birds; a carina.
4 Bot. a prow-shaped pair of petals in a corolla etc.
--v.
1 (often foll. by over) a intr. turn over or fall down. b tr. cause to do this.
2 tr. & intr. turn keel upwards.

Derivative

keelless adj.

keel, n. Brit. hist.
1 a flat-bottomed vessel, esp. of the kind formerly used on the River Tyne etc. for loading coal-ships.
2 an amount carried by such a vessel.

Etymology

ME kele f. MLG kel, MDu. kiel ship, boat, f. Gmc

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THESAURUS

keel
argosy, ascend, bank, bark, base, baseboard, basement, be lost, boat, bottom, bucket, cant, capsize, careen, chassis, climb, craft, dado, decline, descend, dip, drop, fall, fall away, fall off, foot, footing, foundation, founder, frame, go down, go downhill, go uphill, grade, hooker, hulk, hull, incline, keel over, lean, leviathan, list, mopboard, nadir, overset, overturn, packet, pitch, pitchpole, rake, retreat, rise, scuttle, shelve, ship, shoemold, sidle, sink, slant, slope, sole, somersault, swag, sway, tilt, tip, toe, tub, turn over, turn turtle, uprise, upset, upset the boat, vessel, wainscot, watercraft

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ROGET THESAURUS

keel

Base
N base, basement, plinth, dado, wainscot, baseboard, mopboard, bedrock, hardpan, foundation, substructure, substratum, ground, earth, pavement, floor, paving, flag, carped, ground floor, deck, footing, ground work, basis, hold, bilge, bottom, nadir, foot, sole, toe, hoof, keel, root, centerboard, bottom, undermost, nethermost, fundamental, founded on, based on, grounded on, built on.

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