keel

¹keel

verb \ˈkēl\

Definition of KEEL

chiefly dialect

: cool

Origin of KEEL

Middle English kelen, from Old English cēlan, from cōl cool

First Known Use: before 12th century

Rhymes with KEEL

ceil, chiel, creel, deal, deil, eel, feel, heal, heel, Kiel, kneel, leal, meal, peal, peel, real, reel, seal, seel, shiel, speel, spiel, squeal, steal, steel, Steele, streel, teal, tuille, veal, weal, wheal, wheel, zeal

²keel

noun

Definition of KEEL

: a flat-bottomed barge used especially on the Tyne to carry coal

Origin of KEEL

Middle English kele, from Middle Dutch kiel; akin to Old English cēol ship

First Known Use: 14th century

Other Nautical Terms

avast, aweigh, flotsam, jib, keel, lee, port, starboard, stay

³keel

noun

Definition of KEEL

1

a : the chief structural member of a boat or ship that extends longitudinally along the center of its bottom and that often projects from the bottom; also : this projection

b : ship

2

: a projection suggesting a keel; especially : carina 1

— keeled \ˈkēld\ adjective

— keel·less \ˈkēl-ləs\ adjective

Origin of KEEL

Middle English kele, from Old Norse kjǫlr; akin to Old English ceole throat, beak of a ship — more at glutton

First Known Use: 14th century

Other Nautical Terms

avast, aweigh, flotsam, jib, lee, port, starboard, stay

⁴keel

intransitive verb

Definition of KEEL

1

: to fall in or as if in a faint —usually used with over

2

: to heel or lean precariously

First Known Use of KEEL

1832

Other Nautical Terms

avast, aweigh, flotsam, jib, keel, lee, port, starboard, stay

⁵keel

noun

Definition of KEEL

chiefly dialect

: red ocher

Origin of KEEL

Middle English (Scots) keyle

First Known Use: 15th century

keel

noun \ˈkēl\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of KEEL

: acute septicemic salmonellosis or paratyphoid of ducklings marked by sudden collapse and death of apparently healthy birds—called also keel disease