Meaning of off keel | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Out of balance, tilting to one side. (of a watercraft, etc.)
2. Out of control, not proceeding or running smoothly.
   figuratively

Examples

“1896, William Sharp, Boston: Lamson, Wolffe & Col, Chapter 4, p. 78, The tide was full and the dingey was off keel. The punt nosed the pebbly slope like a terrier, but her stern swung clear.”

“[…] at the finish the boat is moving faster, and the blade must be taken out more sharply if it is to avoid pulling the boat off keel.”

“At any rate, Gull had done a hurried repair job on the ship, for it was traveling with the labored toil of an old man walking uphill. It was off-keel. The body of the ship leaned at an angle to the line of flight.”

“The lower half of a duplex apartment on a shabby Montreal street, dark as limbo, jerry-built fifty years ago and going off keel ever since.”

“I’ve learned the lesson that the worst thing that can happen to a gambler is to let his recent losses or wins knock him off keel emotionally.”

“Attorney General John D. Ashcroft provided an update to the group on his efforts to develop a legislative package to expand the powers of law enforcement to fight terrorism. He outlined a two-phase strategy, aimed first at “immediate disruption and prevention of terrorism” and followed by longer-term efforts to put terrorists “off keel.””

CEFR level