KEEL

(Probably from the Gr. koi\ds, hollow.) The principal piece of timber of a ship, usually first laid on the blocks in building. If we compare the body of a ship to the human skeleton, the keel seems to resemble the back bone, and the timbers the ribs. It is generally composed of several thick pieces of wood placed lengthways, which after being scarfed together, are bolted and clenched upon the upper side. Keelage signifies the duty paid by a ship on coming into port. Keel. In Botany, a name applied in a figurative sense to the two lowest petals of a Papilionaceous corolla, which, together, have some resemblance to the keel of a boat. [s. 644]