DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Keel, n.
 1. Shipbuilding 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.
 2. Fig.: The whole ship.
 3. A barge or lighter, used on the Tyne for carrying coal from Newcastle; also, a barge load of coal, twenty-one tons, four cwt. [Eng.]
 4. Bot. The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and inclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina. See Carina.
 5. Nat. Hist. A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface.
 6. Aeronautics In a dirigible, a construction similar in form and use to a ship's keel; in an aëroplane, a fin or fixed surface employed to increase stability and to hold the machine to its course.
 Bilge keel Naut., a keel peculiar to ironclad vessels, extending only a portion of the length of the vessel under the bilges. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
 False keel. See under False.
 Keel boat. (a) A covered freight boat, with a keel, but no sails, used on Western rivers. [U. S.] (b) A low, flat-bottomed freight boat. See Keel, n., 3.
 Keel piece, one of the timbers or sections of which a keel is composed.
 On even keel, in a level or horizontal position, so that the draught of water at the stern and the bow is the same. --Ham. Nav. Encyc.
 On an even keel a. & adv., steady; balanced; steadily.

 bilge keel
      n : either of two lengthwise fins attached along the outside of
          a ship's bilge; reduces rolling