Noah Webster
Keel
KEEL, noun
1. The principal timber in a ship, extending from stem to stern at the bottom, and supporting the whole frame.
2. A low flat-bottomed vessel, used in the river Tyne, to convey coals from Newcastle for loading the colliers.
3. In botany, the lower petal of a papilionaceous corol, inclosing the stamens and pistil.
False keel a strong thick piece of timber, bolted to the bottom of the keel to preserve it from injury.
On an even keel in a level or horizontal position.
KEEL, verb transitive To cool.
KEEL, verb transitive To plow with a keel; to navigate.
1. To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.
To keel the pot, in Ireland, to scum it.