keeled; keeling; keels
1
: to fall in or as if in a faint
—usually used with over
keeled over from exhaustion
2
of a boat or ship
: to heel or lean precariously
1
a
: the chief structural member of a boat or ship that extends longitudinally along the center of its bottom and that often projects from the bottom
also
: this projection
b
: ship
2
: a projection suggesting the keel of a boat or ship: such as
a
: an anatomical process forming a ridge (as on the sternum of a bird) : carina sense 1
b
botany
: the lower part of a papilionaceous flower (as of a pea or bean plant) that consists of two fused petals, lies between the wings (see wing sense 2e(2)), and encloses the pistil and stamens
The keel, the lowest petal of the pea-like flower, is short and rounded.—Sylvan T. Runkel and Dean M. Roose
: a flat-bottomed barge used especially on the Tyne to carry coal
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share