keel over
/ˈkil ˈoʊvɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.19 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "What a tiny little schooner! But is it not bold to spread both sails? And see, now that we have come round to the wind, how the skiff keels over."
- "[H]is bandaged cry was, to beach him on the whale's topmost back. Nothing loath, his bowsman hauled him up and up, through a blinding foam that blent two whitenesses together; till of a sudden the boat struck as against a sunken ledge, and keeling over, spilled out the standing mate."
- "The tributaries made their appearance from the house, advancing in a singular manner. They were all clothed in immense pieces of tappa looped about their persons. First one crawled on all fours for a few yards; then he keeled over, head over heels; then he brought up on his haunches, resting for a moment; after which he resumed the same procedure until he came within a few paces of "Old Snuffy.""
- "At home, the water had deepened; it tumbled like rapids across the yard; it encroached upon the house; it shoved one-foot stones aside and carved grooves through the gravel driveway; the chain link fence was keeling over under the pressure surging through it."
- "We should all go inside before somebody keels over from the heat."
- "A huge double-fisted fellow hits Marshall a biff on the ear; the General keels over and catches in his fall another gentleman, who hits a fourth, and the party clinging, all fall through a window, and drop through a partly closed cellar-door."
Etymology
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkil ˈoʊvɚ/
- British English: /ˈkiːl ˈəʊvə(ɹ)/