·noun Fig.: The whole ship.
II. Keel ·noun A brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.
III. Keel ·vi To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.
IV. Keel ·vi To traverse with a keel; to Navigate.
V. Keel ·noun A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface.
VI. Keel ·vt & ·vi To Cool; to skim or stir.
VII. Keel ·noun A barge or lighter, used on the Type for carrying coal from Newcastle; also, a barge load of coal, twenty-one tons, four cwt.
VIII. Keel ·noun The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and inclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina. ·see Carina.
IX. Keel ·add. ·noun 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.
X. Keel ·noun A longitudinal timber, or series of timbers scarfed together, extending from stem to stern along the bottom of a vessel. It is the principal timber of the vessel, and, by means of the ribs attached on each side, supports the vessel's frame. In an iron vessel, a combination of plates supplies the place of the keel of a wooden ship. ·see ·Illust. of Keelson.