Definition of keel

• v. t. & i. - To cool; to skim or stir.
• n. - A brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.
• n. - 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.
• n. - Fig.: The whole ship.
• n. - A barge or lighter, used on the Type for carrying coal from Newcastle; also, a barge load of coal, twenty-one tons, four cwt.
• n. - The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and inclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina. See Carina.
• n. - A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface.
• v. i. - To traverse with a keel; to navigate.
• v. i. - To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.