keckle 
I kick the wee stools o'er the mk'kle. 
As round the fire the giglets keclde 
To see me loup. Burns, To the Toothache. 
The aulil carles kecklet with fainness as they saw the 
young dancers. Gait, Annals of the Parish, xlviii. 
keckle 3 (kek'l), . [< keckle'^, !).] A chuckle. 
3268 
ter, and various condiments. Also kitchery. 
Hence 2. A mixture; medley; hodgepodge. 
kee (ke), n. pi. A variant of /.'//. 
A lass, that Cicly hight, had won his heart 
Cic'ly, the western lass that tends the kee. 
Gay, Shepherd's Week, Tuesday, 1. 21. 
"I" gude faith," cried the bailie, with a keckle of exulta- keech (kech), . [Perhaps an assibilated form, 
tion, "here's proof enough now." Oalt, Provost, xii. w j t jj mu t a ted vowel, of cake 1 . Cf. kitcltel.'] A 
keckle-meckle (kek'l-mek'*l), . In mining, 
lead-mines of the poorest kind. B. Hunt. 
[Eng.] 
keckle-pint (kek'1-pin), . [Appar. connected 
with kecks, kex.] A kex. 
It lighted on her cheek, 
And syne upon her chin, 
And sang the points o' her yellow hair, 
And she burnt like keckle-pin. 
Young Hunting (Child's Ballads, III. 300). 
keckling (kek'ling), . [Verbal n. of keckle 1 , v.] 
Naut., tne material used to keekle a cable. 
kecklish (kek'lish), a. [< keckle* + -isW. Cf. 
keckish.] Keckish. 
The verie small tendrils of the vine. . . . being punned 
and taken in water, staieth and represseth vomiting in 
those whose stomacks use ordinarily to be kecklish and 
soon to overturne. Holland, tr. of Pliny, xxiii., 1'roenie. 
kecklock (kek'lok), n. Brassicu Sinapistrum, 
or charlock. [Prov. Eng.] 
kecks (keks), . Same as keck s or kex. 
You are so thin a Body may see thro' you, and as dry as 
a Kecks. N. Bailey, tr. of Colloquies of Erasmus, I. 28. 
keckshoset, n. Same as kickshaw. 
keckson (kek'son), n. [See kexen.] Same as 
kei, 1. 
kecksyt (kek'si), n. [See kex.'] Same as kex. 
Nothing teems 
But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs, 
Losing both beauty and utility. 
Shak., Hen. V.,v. 2, 52. 
kecky (kek'i), a. [< kecks + -yi.] Of the na- 
ture of a keck ; keck-like. 
A sort of cane, without any joint, and perfectly round, 
consisteth of hard and blackish cylinders, mixed with ii 
soft kecky body, so as at the end cut transversely it looks 
as a bundle of wires. Grew. 
kedt, keddt. Past participles of kithe. 
keddle-clock (ked'1-dok), n. The plant ragwort 
or kettle-dock, Senecio Jacobam. 
kedge 1 (kej), . ; pret. and pp. kedr/ed, ppr. 
kedging. [According to Skeat, < Sw. dial, keka, 
tug, work continually, drag oneself slowly for- 
ward ; but the verb, though appar. older, may 
be from the noun : see kedge 1 , n."] I. trans. To 
warp, as a ship ; move by means of a light cable 
or hawser attached to an anchor, as in a river. 
II. intrans. To move by being pulled along 
with the aid of an anchor. 
He said she went to windward as if she were kedging. 
K. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 232. 
Then followed a curious kedging barge, with high bow 
and stern and a horse-power windlass amidships, pulling 
itself slowly up-stream by winding in cables attached to 
kedge anchors which were carried ahead and dropped in 
turn by two or three boats' crews. 
The Century, XXXVI. 15. 
kedge 1 (kej), . [See kedge 1 , v. The noun may 
be simply short for kedge-anchor.] A small an- 
chor with an iron stock. Its principal use is to hold 
a ship steady when riding in a harbor or river, and to keep 
her clear of her bower-anchor, particularly at the turn of 
the tide. It is also used in moving the ship from one part 
of a harbor to another in warping or kedging. Kedges are 
also used as ordinary anchors for boats and smaller vessels. 
kedge' 2 , kidge (kej, kij), a. [< ME. kydge, kygge, 
for orig. "kykke (of. E. dial, keck*), < Icel. kykr, 
a contr. form of Jcvihr = E. quick : see quick. 
Cf. fcecfcl.] 1. Brisk; lively. 
I'm surely growing young again, 
I feel myself so kedge and plump. 
Blo&mfield, Richard and Kate. 
H himself ... is exceedingly kedge about me, 
anxious beyond measure for golden opinions of his Qod- 
dedicated Epic. Carlyle, in Froude, I. ii. 18. 
2. Stout ; potbellied. [Prov. Eng.] 
Also kedgy. 
kedge 3 (kej), v. t. ; pret. and pp. kedged, ppr. 
kedging. [Cf. kedge%, a.] To fill ; stuff. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
kedge-anchor (kej'ang'kor), n. Same as kedge 1 . 
kedger 1 (kej'er), n. [< Icedgel + -eri.] A small 
anchor used in kedging. 
kedger 2 (kej'er), n. [A var. of cadger^.'] A 
fisherman ; a dealer in fish ; a cadger. See 
cadge 2 . [Prov. Eng.] 
kedge-rope (kej'rop), n. Naut., the rope which 
is attached to the kedge. 
kedgy (kej'i), a. [< kedge't + -1/1.] Same as 
kedge'". 
kedjeree (kej'e-re), n. [E. Ind.] 1. A dish 
much eaten in India, made of rice cooked with 
the kind of pea called dholl, onions, eggs, but- 
mass of fat rolled up in a round lump by a 
butcher. 
I wonder 
That such a keech can with his very bulk 
Take up the rays o' the beneficial sun. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., i. 1, 55. 
keek (kek), . i. [< ME. ki/ken = D. kijki'ii = 
MLG. kiken, LG. kieken = G. kuckeii (cf. MHG. 
gucken, gugken, G. gucken) = Icel. kikja = Sw. 
kika = Dan. kige (secondary form kikke), look, 
peep.] To peep ; look pryingly. [Prov. Eug. 
and Scotch.] 
This Nicholas sat gapynge evere uprighte, 
As he had kiked Ivar. loked] on the newe moone. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 259. 
Then up she rose, put on her clothes, 
And keekit through at the lock-hole. 
Lockmaben Harper (Child's Ballads, VI. 9). 
keek (kek), . [< teek, v.] A peep. [Prov. 
Eng. and Scotch.] 
I wad nae gie the finest sight we hae seen in the Hie- 
lands for the first keek o' the Gorbals o' Glasgow. 
Scott, Rob Roy, xxxvi. 
keeker (ke'ker), . [< keek + -er 1 .] In coal- 
mining, an inspector of underground mining. 
[North. Eng.] 
keeking-glass (ke'king-glas), n. A looking- 
glass. [Scotch.] 
A breast-plate you might see to dress your hair in, as 
well as in that keeking-glass in the ivory frame that you 
showed me even now. Scott, Monastery, xiv. 
keel 1 (kel), H. [Early mod. E. also kyel (*kiel) ; 
< ME. *kelc, not found; the reg. form from the 
AS., also not found, would be "cheol, *chele, E. 
as if "cheel, as shortened in Chelsea and Cliol- 
sey, AS. cedlesig, (n) partly (in def. 1) < AS. eedl, 
dot, a ship (chiefly poetical), = D. kiel = MLG. 
kel, kil, LG. kiel = OHG. kiol, kcol, chiol, client, 
MHG. kiel = Icel. kjoll (chiefly poetical; pi. 
kjolar), a ship (perhaps = Gr. joi)/oc, a round- 
built Phenician merchant vessel); and (b) part- 
ly (in def. 2) from an orig. diff. word, namely 
Icel. kjiilr (pi. kilir) = Dan. kjol = Sw. kol, the 
keel of a vessel, whence also appar. D. and G. 
kiel, in this sense. The P. quille = Sp. quilla 
= Pg. quilha = It. chiglia, chiela, the keel of a 
vessel, is prob. from the E. (the Sp. Pg. It. 
through the F.). In def. 5 (and 6) the word is 
prob. a fig. use of def. 2. Cf . bottom, in the sense 
of 'ship.' The AS. term for 'keel' in def. 2 
was stipes botm, 'ship's bottom,' or bytnte, 'bot- 
tom.'] 1. An early form of galley or small 
ship ; a long boat : used with reference to Anglo- 
Saxon history. 
Hingistns and Horsus. two brethren, and most valiant 
Saxon princes, had the conduction of these forces over into 
Brittaine in three great and long shippes, then called keeles. 
Verstegan, Rest, of Decayed Intelligence, v. 
In three keels so ran the legend of their conquest 
and with their ealdormen, Hengist and Horsa. at their 
head, these Jutes landed at Ebbsfleet in the Isle of Thanet. 
J. B. Green, Making of Eng., p. 27. 
2. The principal timber in a ship or boat, ex- 
tending from stem to 
stern at the bottom, 
supporting the whole 
frame, and consisting 
of a number of pieces 
scarfed and bolted to- 
gether; in iron ves- 
sels, the combination 
of plates correspond- 
ing to the keel of a 
wooden vessel. 
Her cedar keele, her mast of 
gold refined, 
Her takle and sayles as 
silver and silke. 
P((enAa>,Partheiiiades,x. 
He hearkned, and his arnies 
about him tooke, 
, ... ,. Kfr ,,, .,,. t - ? 
The whiles the nimble bote keei'sonTw half.ficx.rs ; a 'dea'd- 
SO well her sped wood ; SP, stepping-uieces : GS, 
That With her crooked keele garboard-strakes I i limbers: 
the land she strooke. lf' k ' " 
Spenser, F.Q.,11. xii. 3S. 
A littlevessel . . . was riding at anchor, keel tokeel with 
another that lay beneath it, its own apparition. 
Longfellow, Hyperion, i. 2. 
3. Inbot.: (a) A central longitudinal ridge along 
the back of any organ, as a leaf or glume. (6) 
In a papilionaceous corolla, the lower pair of 
petals, which are more or less united into a 
keel-compelling 
prow-shaped body, usually inclosing the sta- 
mens and pistil, (c) Another structure of simi- 
lur form, as the lower petal in Polygala. Also 
called cariiia. See cut under banner. 4. In 
zool., a projecting ridge extending longitudi- 
nally along the middle of any surface. Specifi- 
cally] in ornith. : (a) The gonys of the bill. (6) The carina 
of the sternum, or crest of the breast-bone : as, the sternal 
keel. See cut under cariiiale. 
5. A ship. 
From what unheard-of world, in what strange keel, 
Have ye come hither to our commonweal 1 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 5. 
6. A strong, clumsy boat; a barge such as is 
used by the colliers at Newcastle in England. 
[Eng.] 
Bottoms or keeles. Harrison, p. 6. (HalKicell.) 
Thou and thy most renowned noble brother 
Came to the Court first in a keele of Sea-coale. 
Chaptnan, Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois, i. 
He had come to Newcastle about a year ago in expecta- 
tion of journeyman work, along with three young fellows 
of his acquaintance who worked in the keels. 
Smollett, Roderick Random, viii. 
Weel may the keel row 
That my lad's in. Newcastle Song. 
Hence 7. A measure of coal, 8 Newcastle 
chaldrons, equal to 424 hundredweight. This 
would be about 15J London chaldrons of 36 bushels. But 
a statute of 1421 makes the keel' 20 chaldrons (chaldre). 
[Eng.J False keel, asecondkeel of aship fastened under 
the main keel to preserve it from injury. See cut above. 
On an even keel, in a level or horizontal position : said 
of a ship or other vessel. 
Thus I steer my bark, and sail 
On even keel, with gentle gale. 
M. Green, The Spleen. 
To give the keelt (naut.\ to careen. Fl&rio. 
keel 1 (kel), c. [< keel^, .] I. trans. 1. To 
plow with a keel, as the sea ; navigate. [Poeti- 
cal.] 2. To furnish with a keel. 
A conspiracy has long existed in America for the pur- 
pose of buying a stout keeled yacht. 
The Academy, Nov. 10, 1888, p. 302. 
II. intrans. 1. To turn up the keel; show 
the bottom. 2. To give over; cease. [Prov. 
Eug. andtT. S.] To keel over, (a) To capsize or up 
set. (6) To fall suddenly ; tumble down or over, as from 
fright or a blow, or in a swoon. {Colloq., U. 8.] 
keel' 2 t (kel), v. [< ME. kelen (also assibilated 
chelen), < AS. eelau (OFries. kela = OHG. chun- 
lan, kualen, MHG. kuelen, G. kiihlen = Icel. kcela), 
make cool, < col, cool : see cool 1 . Cf . cooft, v.~\ I. 
trans. 1. To make cool; cool; moderate the 
heat of, as that of the contents of a pot boiling 
violently by gently stirring them. 
And lerede men a ladel bygge with a long stele, 
That cast for to kele a crokke and saue the fatte aboue. 
Piers Plowman (C), xxli. 280. 
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot 
Shale., L. L. L., v. 2 (song). 
2. To moderate the ardor or intensity of; as- 
suage; appease; pacify; diminish. 
Be-cause of his corage was kelit with age, 
He shuld tin in- to the toun, tho traytonrs with all, 
To spir at horn specially of hor spede fer. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 11464. 
Loved be that lord that giffes all grace, 
That kyndly thus oure care wolde kele. 
York Plays, p. 51. 
And, sires, also it keleth jalousie. 
Chaitcer, Prol. to Pardoner's Tale, 1. 80. 
And doune on knees full humbly gan I knele, 
Besechyng her my fervent wo to kele. 
Court of Lone, 1. 775. 
II. intrans. To become cool; cool down. 
Come forthe, thou cursed knave, 
Thy comforte sone schall kele. 
York Plays, p. 350. 
keel 2 (kel), n. [< keel 2 , .] In brewing, a broad 
flat vessel used for cooling liquids ; a keelfat. 
Liquor salt my keel doth fill. 
Sonnet (Arber's Eng. Garner, I. 461). 
keel 3 (kel), . [< Ir. Gael, oil, ruddle.] Red 
chalk; ruddle. [Scotch.] 
keel 3 (kel), r. *. [< keelS, n.] To mark, as a 
sheep, with ruddle. [Scotch.] 
keel 4 (kel), n. A variant of kaiV, \. 
keel 5 ?kel), n. An obsolete or dialectal form of 
M/2, kiln. 
keelage (ke'laj), n. [< keel 1 + -age.] The 
right of demanding a duty or toll for a ship en- 
tering a harbor; also, the duty so paid. 
keel-block (kel'blok), n. One of a series of 
short timbers on which the keel of a vessel 
rests while building or repairing, and which 
afford access to work beneath. 
keel-compelling (kel'kom-pel"ing), . Driving 
onward a keel or boat. [Poetical.] 
Blow, swiftly blow, thou keel-compelling gale ! 
Byron, Childe Harold, ii. 20. 
