keel

CEFRB2

/kiːl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The long structural beam along the bottom of a boat.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A rigid, flat piece of material anchored to the lowest part of the hull of a ship to give it greater control and stability.

Examples

  • I’m afraid she’ll keel over before she succeeds.

  • Does a long, shallow keel help?

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. 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.

  2. A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern.

  3. A type of flat-bottomed boat.

More examples

In context

  • He keeled over after having a stroke.

  • I hear the noise about thy keel; ⁠I hear the bell struck in the night: ⁠I see the cabin-window bright; I see the sailor at the wheel.

  • The most important ice features are the frequency and extent of downward projections (bummocks and ice keels) from the underside of the ice canopy (pack ice and enclosed water areas from the point of view of the submariner)[…]

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The long, flat structure at the bottom of a sailboat is called the blank.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.