Meaning of keelhauling | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The act by which a person is keelhauled.
2. A thorough thrashing or mauling; rough treatment.
   broadly, obsolete, slang

Equivalents

Examples

“‘We was a-talkin’ of keel-hauling,’ answered Morgan. / ‘Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, too, and you may lay⟳ to that. Get⟳ back to your place⟳ for a lubber, Tom.’”

“The British, French and Dutch navies also practiced a grimmer form⟳ of choking. Sailors hung the victim from the lowest beam (the yardarm) of the main mast on one side of the ship and then, using pulleys, dragged him with ropes beneath the ship's keel to the other side of the long beam. This was called “keelhauling.” Keelhauling was not some ancient nautical torture. It originated with the modern navy. […] The British abolished keelhauling in 1720 and the French and Dutch in 1750. The practice continued unofficially for some years afterward, but there are no British records of keelhauling after 1770, and the last⟳ Dutch record⟳ was in 1806.”

CEFR level