keel

Definitions

• (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.
• (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.
• A brewer's cooling vat.