meaning of keel
1. To cool; to skim or stir.
2. A brewers cooling vat; a keelfat.
3. 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 vessels frame. In an iron vessel, a combination of plates supplies the place of the keel of a wooden ship. See Illust. of Keelson.
4. Fig. : The whole ship.
5. A barge or lighter, used on the Type for carrying coal from Newcastle; also, a barge load of coal, twenty-one tons, four cwt.
6. The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and inclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina. See Carina.
7. A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface.
8. To traverse with a keel; to navigate.
9. To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.
10. one of the main longitudinal beams or plates of the hull of a vessel; can extend vertically into the water to provide lateral stability
Related Words
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