Meaning of Keel | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern.
2. A broad, flat vessel used for cooling liquids; a brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.
3. Red chalk; ruddle.
   Scotland
4. A rigid, flat piece of material anchored to the lowest part of the hull of a ship to give it greater control and stability.
5. 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.
6. The rigid bottom part of something else, especially an iceberg.
   broadly
7. A type of flat-bottomed boat.
8. The periphery of a whorl extended to form a more or less flattened plate; a prominent spiral ridge.
9. The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and enclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina.

Equivalents

Examples

“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)[…]”

“Bill Roggensack, EBA Engineering Ltd.: So at the end⟳ of this particular simulation, presumably the keel of the iceberg is in contact⟳ with the seabed? / Chris Woodworth-Lynas: It is just in contact⟳ with the seabed.”

“Would he be able to break⟳ through the surface ice or would they ram into an ice keel extending down from the bottom of the ice pack⟳ that would rip their craft open⟳ like⟳ a mere sardine can?”

“The ladies remained at the house, while the men walked to the staith on the [River] Wear⟳, and were shown the process⟳ of unloading the wagons into the keels by means of the coal-drop.”

“Metanotum shining, indistinctly punctured at the base⟳ in the centre, the sides closely punctured; the areola large, obliquely narrowed at the base⟳, its apex open⟳, there are 2 lateral areas, both widely open⟳ at the base⟳ on the outerside; the posterior median area bears about 10 stout, transverse keels; on its apical outerside is a triangular area; the spiracular is bounded on the outerside by a distinct keel.”

“Vegetatively it is the nearest to H. translucens with its oblong-lanceolate leaves, with the margins and keel beset with pellucid teeth, but it differs and is characterised by the greyish-black quadrantly positioned globose flowers; […]”

CEFR level