keel

Pronunciation: /kiːl/

The English word “keel” has 17 meanings listed here.

noun

A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern.
A rigid, flat piece of material anchored to the lowest part of the hull of a ship to give it greater control and stability.
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.
The rigid bottom part of something else, especially an iceberg.
A type of flat-bottomed boat.
The periphery of a whorl extended to form a more or less flattened plate; a prominent spiral ridge.
The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and enclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina.
The extension of a bird's sternum to which pectoral muscles attach.
A broad, flat vessel used for cooling liquids; a brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.
Red chalk; ruddle.

verb

To collapse, to fall.
To traverse with a keel; to navigate.
To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.
To cool; make cool; to cool by stirring or skimming in order to keep from boiling over.
To moderate the ardour or intensity of; assuage; to appease, pacify, or lessen.
To become cool; cool down.
To mark with ruddle.

Etymology

From Middle English kele, from Old Norse kjǫlr, itself from Proto-Germanic *keluz, of uncertain origin. Displaced Old English ċēol from a related root. Distantly related to kile.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.