Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Keel

Keel (kēl), v. t. & i. [AS. cēlan to cool, fr. cōl cool. See Cool.] To cool; to skim or stir. [Obs.]

While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. Shak.

Keel, n. A brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.

Keel, n. [Cf. AS. ceól ship; akin to D. & G. kiel keel, OHG. chiol ship, Icel. kjōll, and perh. to Gr. γαῦλος a round-built Phœnician merchant vessel, γαυλός bucket; cf. Skr. gōla ball, round water vessel. But the meaning of the English word seems to come from Icel. kjölr keel, akin to Sw. köl, Dan. kjöl.] 1. (Shipbuilding) 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.

2. Fig.: The whole ship.

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

4. (Bot.) The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and inclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina. See Carina.

5. (Nat. Hist.) A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface.

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.

Keel, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Keeled; p. pr. & vb. n. Keeling.] 1. To traverse with a keel; to navigate.

2. To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.

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

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.