keel

IPA: kˈiɫ

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

(intransitive, followed by "over") to collapse, to fall
To traverse with a keel; to navigate.
To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.
(transitive, obsolete) To cool; make cool; to cool by stirring or skimming in order to keep from boiling over.
(transitive, obsolete) To moderate the ardour or intensity of; assuage; to appease, pacify, or lessen.
(intransitive, obsolete) To become cool; cool down.
(Scotland, transitive) To mark with ruddle.
(humorous, nonstandard) Pronunciation spelling of kill. [(transitive) To put to death; to extinguish the life of.]

Examples of "keel" in Sentences

The keel is a single piece of steel running the height of the Can.
A central structural member, called the keel, runs the length of the cylinder.
Each ridge has a corresponding structure, called a keel, that forms on the underside of the ice.
The heavy hull gives a fair bit of stability itself and the keel is a shoal, keeping the boat on track.
Her fin keel struck bottom, and her main topmast lurched and shivered as if about to come down upon our heads.
He tended always to be on an even keel, which is what made it easy to work around him, to give him bad news, or to tell him good news.
But the responsibility of keeping the Canadian economy on an even keel is not one that should be left primarily or even mainly to the financial system.
You have two options: a water keel, which features a hollow keel designed to fill with water to add stability; or a weighted keel, which is usually filled with sand to make the decoy stable as well as self-righting.
Now, in some of our shipyards these vessels are being launched only ten days after the keel is laid and they are fully ready to load cargo and sail to the aid of our fighting forces only fourteen days after they are launched.