Yahoo Web Search

Search results

1. Dictionary

   keel

   /kiːl/

   noun

   • 1. the lengthwise timber or steel structure along the base of a ship, supporting the framework of the whole, in some vessels extended downwards as a ridge to increase stability.
   • ▪ a ship: literary "to buy a new keel with my gold, And fill her with such things as she may hold"
   • 2. a ridge along the breastbone of many birds to which the flight muscles are attached; the carina.
   • 3. a prow-shaped pair of petals present in flowers of the pea family.

   verb

   • 1. (of a boat or ship) turn over on its side; capsize: "it's going to take more wind to make this boat keel over"
   • ▪ (of a person or thing) fall over; collapse: "a wardrobe was about to keel over on top of him"

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old Norse kjǫlr, of Germanic origin.

   Derivatives

   • 1. keeled adjective
   • 2. keelless adjective

   Scrabble Points: 8

   • K

     5

   • E

     1

   • E

     1

   • L

     1

   Powered by Oxford Dictionaries

   More definitions, origin and scrabble points