Definition of "keel"

keel¹

/kiːl/

noun
plural keels
1. (nautical) A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern.
  Quotations
  I hear the noise about thy keel;⁠I hear the bell struck in the night:⁠I see the cabin-window bright;I see the sailor at the wheel.
  1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], canto X
2. (nautical) A rigid, flat piece of material anchored to the lowest part of the hull of a ship to give it greater control and stability.
3. (aeronautics) In a dirigible, a construction similar in form and use to a ship's keel; in an aeroplane, a fin or fixed surface employed to increase stability and to hold the machine to its course.
4. (by extension) The rigid bottom part of something else, especially an iceberg.
  Quotations
  The most important ice features are the frequency and extent of downward projections (bummocks and ice keels) from the underside of the ice canopy (pack ice and enclosed water areas from the point of view of the submariner) […]
  1975, Nathaniel Bowditch, American Practical Navigator: An Epitome of Navigation, page 834
  Bill Roggensack, EBA Engineering Ltd.: So at the end of this particular simulation, presumably the keel of the iceberg is in contact with the seabed? / Chris Woodworth-Lynas: It is just in contact with the seabed.
  1986, Environmental Studies Revolving Funds (Canada), C. F. M. Lewis, Federal Panel on Energy Research and Development (Canada), Gulf Canada Resources Inc, Ice Scour Workshop (1985 : Calgary, Alta.), Ice Scour and Seabed Engineering: Proceedings of a Workshop on Ice Scour Research
  Would he be able to break through the surface ice or would they ram into an ice keel extending down from the bottom of the ice pack that would rip their craft open like a mere sardine can?
  2021 September 30, Kenneth Andrus, Arctic Menace, Babylon Books
5. (nautical) A type of flat-bottomed boat.
  Quotations
  The ladies remained at the house, while the men walked to the staith on the [River] Wear, and were shown the process of unloading the wagons into the keels by means of the coal-drop.
  1948 January and February, “Notes and News: Duke of Wellington's Early Railway Journey”, in Railway Magazine, page 56
6. (zoology) The periphery of a whorl extended to form a more or less flattened plate; a prominent spiral ridge.
7. (botany) The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and enclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina.
  Quotations
  Vegetatively it is the nearest to H. translucens with its oblong-lanceolate leaves, with the margins and keel beset with pellucid teeth, but it differs and is characterised by the greyish-black quadrantly positioned globose flowers; […]
  1985, Charles L. Scott, The Genus Haworthia (Liliaceae): A Taxonomic Revision, page 80
verb
third-person singular simple present keels, present participle keeling, simple past and past participle keeled
1. (intransitive, followed by "over") to collapse, to fall
2. To traverse with a keel; to navigate.
3. To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.

keel²

verb
third-person singular simple present keels, present participle keeling, simple past and past participle keeled
1. (transitive, obsolete) To cool; make cool; to cool by stirring or skimming in order to keep from boiling over.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To moderate the ardour or intensity of; assuage; to appease, pacify, or lessen.
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To become cool; cool down.
noun
plural keels
1. (brewing) A broad, flat vessel used for cooling liquids; a brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.

keel³

noun
1. (Scotland) Red chalk; ruddle.
verb
third-person singular simple present keels, present participle keeling, simple past and past participle keeled
1. (Scotland, transitive) To mark with ruddle.

keel⁴

verb
third-person singular simple present keels, present participle keeling, simple past and past participle keeled
1. (humorous, nonstandard) Pronunciation spelling of kill.

Definition of "keel"

keel1

noun

Quotations

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verb

keel2

verb

noun

keel3

noun

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keel4

verb

keel¹

keel²

keel³

keel⁴