KECK'LE, verb transitive To wind old rope round a cable to preserve its surface from being fretted, or to wind iron chains round a cable to defend it from the friction of a rocky bottom, or from the ice.

KECK'SY, noun [Latin cicuta.] Hemlock; a hollow jointed plant. [Not used in America.]

KECK'Y, adjective Resembling a kex.

1. An Indian scepter.

KEDGE, noun [allied probably to cag and keg.] A small anchor, used to keep a ship steady when riding in a harbor or river, and particularly at the turn of the tide, to keep her clear of her bower anchor, also to remove her from one part of a harbor to another, being carried out in a boat and let go, as in warping or kedging. [Sometimes written kedger.]

KEDGE, verb transitive To warp, as a ship; to move by means of a kedge as in a river.

KED'LACK, noun A weed that grows among wheat and rye; charlock. [I believe not used in America.]

KEE, plural of cow. [Local in England and not used in America.]

KEECH, noun A mass or lump. [Not in use.]

KEEL, noun

1. The principal timber in a ship, extending from stem to stern at the bottom, and supporting the whole frame.

2. A low flat-bottomed vessel, used in the river Tyne, to convey coals from Newcastle for loading the colliers.

3. In botany, the lower petal of a papilionaceous corol, inclosing the stamens and pistil.

False keel a strong thick piece of timber, bolted to the bottom of the keel to preserve it from injury.

On an even keel in a level or horizontal position.

KEEL, verb transitive To cool.

KEEL, verb transitive To plow with a keel; to navigate.

1. To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.

To keel the pot, in Ireland, to scum it.

KEE'LAGE, noun Duty paid for a ship entering Hartlepool, Eng.

KEE'LED, adjective In botany, carinated; having a longitudinal prominence on the back; as a keeled leaf, calyx or nectary.

KEE'LFAT, noun A cooler; a vessel in which liquor is set for cooling. [Not used.]

KEE'LHAUL, verb transitive To haul under the keel of a ship. Keelhauling is a punishment inflicted in the Dutch navy for certain offenses. The offender is suspended by a rope from one yard arm, with weights on his legs, and a rope fastened to him, leading under the ship's bottom to the opposite yard arm, and being let fall into the water, he is drawn under the ship's bottom and raised on the other side.

KEE'LING, noun A kind of small cod, of which stock fish is made.

KEELSON, noun kel'son. A piece of timber in a ship, laid on the middle of the floor timbers over the keel, fastened with long bolts and clinched, and thus binding the floor timbers to the keel.

KEEN, adjective

1. Eager; vehement; as hungry curs too keen at the sport.

The sheep were so keen on the acorns--

2. Eager; sharp; as a keen appetite.

3. Sharp; having a very fine edge; as a keen razor, or a razor with a keen edge. We say a keen edge, but a sharp point.

4. Piercing; penetrating; severe; applied to cold or to wind; as a keen wind; the cold is very keen

5. Bitter; piercing; acrimonious; as keen satire or sarcasm.

Good father cardinal, cry thou amen,

To my keen curses.

KEEN, verb transitive To sharpen. [Unusual.]

KEE'NLY, adverb Eagerly; vehemently.

1. Sharply; severely; bitterly.

KEE'NNESS, noun Eagerness; vehemence; as the keenness of hunger.

1. Sharpness; fineness of edge; as the keenness of a razor.

2. The quality of piercing; rigor; sharpness; as the keenness of the air or of cold.

3. Asperity; acrimony; bitterness; as the keenness of satire, invective or sarcasm.

4. Acuteness; sharpness; as the keenness of wit.

KEEP, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive kept. [Latin habeo, and capio.]

1. To hold; to retain in one's power or possession; not to lose or part with; as, to keep a house or a farm; to keep any thing in the memory, mind or heart.

2. To have in custody for security or preservation.

The crown of Stephanus, first king of Hungary, was always kept in the castle of Vicegrade.

3. To preserve; to retain.

The Lord God, merciful and gracious, keeping mercy for thousands--Exodus 34:18.

4. To preserve from falling or from danger; to protect; to guard or sustain.

And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee. Genesis 28:15.

Luke 4:10.

5. To hold or restrain from departure; to detain.

--That I may know what keeps me here with you.

6. To tend; to have the care of.

And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15.

7. To tend; to feed; to pasture; as, to keep a flock of sheep or a herd of cattle in a yard or in a field. He keeps his horses on oats or on hay.

8. To preserve in any tenor or state. keep a stiff rein.

KEEP the constitution sound.

9. To regard; to attend to.

While the stars and course of heaven I keep--

10. To hold in any state; as, to keep in order.

11. To continue any state, course or action; as, to keep silence; to keep the same road or the same pace; to keep reading or talking; to keep a given distance.

12. To practice; to do or perform; to obey; to observe in practice; not to neglect or violate; as, to keep the laws, statutes or commandments of God.

13. To fulfill; to perform; as, to keep one's word, promise or covenant.

14. To practice; to use habitually; as, to keep bad hours.

15. To copy carefully.

Her servant's eyes were fix'd upon her face,

And as she moved or turned, her motions viewed,

Her measures kept, and step by step pursued.

16. To observe or solemnize.

17. To board; to maintain; to supply with necessaries of life. The men are kept at a moderate price per week.

18. To have in the house; to entertain; as, to keep lodgers.

19. To maintain; not to intermit; as, to keep watch or guard.

20. To hold in one's own bosom; to confine to one's own knowledge; not to disclose or communicate to others; not to betray; as, to keep a secret; to keep one's own counsel.

21. To have in pay; as, to keep a servant.

To keep back, to reserve; to withhold; not to disclose or communicate.

I will keep nothing back from you. Jeremiah 42:4.

1. To restrain; ; to prevent from advancing.

KEEP back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Psalms 19:13.

2. To reserve; to withhold; not to deliver. Acts 5:3.

To keep company with, to frequent the society of; to associate with. Let youth keep company with the wise and good.

To accompany; to go with; as, to keep company with one on a journey or voyage.

To keep down, to prevent from rising; not to lift or suffer to be raised.

To keep in, to prevent from escape; to hold in confinement.

1. To conceal; not to tell or disclose.

2. To restrain; to curb.

To keep off, to hinder from approach or attack; as, to keep off an enemy or an evil.

To keep under, to restrain; to hold in subjection; as, to keep under an antagonist or a conquered country; to keep under the appetites and passions.

To keep up, to maintain; to prevent from falling or diminution; as, to keep up the price of goods; to keep up one's credit.

1. To maintain; to continue; to hinder from ceasing.

In joy, that which keeps up the action is the desire to continue it.keep out, to hinder from entering or taking possession.

To keep bed, to remain in bed without rising; to be confined to one's bed.

To keep house, to maintain a family state.

His income enables him to keep house.

1. To remain in the house; to be confined.

His feeble health obliges him to keep house.

To keep from, to restrain; to prevent approach.

To keep a school, to maintain or support it; as, the town or its inhabitants keep ten schools; more properly, to govern and instruct or teach a school, as a preceptor.

KEEP, verb intransitive To remain in any state; as, to keep at a distance; to keep aloft; to keep near; to keep in the house; to keep before or behind; to keep in favor; to keep out of company, or out of reach.

1. To last; to endure; not to perish or be impaired. Seek for winter's use apples that will keep

If the malt is not thoroughly dried, the ale it makes will not keep

2. To lodge; to dwell; to reside for a time.

Knock at the study, where, they say, he keeps.

To keep to, to adhere strictly; not to neglect or deviate from; as, to keep to old customs; to keep to a rule; to keep to one's word or promise.

To keep on, to go forward; to proceed; to continue to advance.

To keep up, to remain unsubdued; or not to be confined to one's bed.

In popular language, this word signifies to continue; to repeat continually; not to cease.

KEEP, noun Custody; guard. [Little used.]

1. Colloquially, case; condition; as in good keep

2. Guardianship; restraint. [Little used.]

3. A place of confinement; in old castles, the dungeon.

KEE'PER, noun One who keeps; one that holds or has possession of any thing.

1. One who retains in custody; one who has the care of a prison and the custody of prisoners.

2. One who has the care of a park or other inclosure, or the custody of beasts; as the keeper of a park, a pound, or of sheep.

3. One who has the care, custody or superintendence of any thing.

In Great Britain, the keeper of the great seal, is a lord by his office, and one of the privy council. All royal grants, commissions and charters pass through his hands. He is constituted lord-keeper by the delivery of the great seal. The keeper of the privy seal is also a lord by his office, and a member of the privy council.

KEE'PERSHIP, noun The office of a keeper. [Little used.]

KEE'PING, participle present tense Holding; restraining; preserving; guarding; protecting; performing.

KEE'PING, noun A holding; restraint; custody; guard; preservation.

1. Feed; fodder. The cattle have good keeping

2. In painting, a representation of objects in the manner they appear to the eye at different distance from it.

KEE'PSAKE, noun Any thing kept, or given to be kept for the sake of the giver; a token of friendship.

KEF'FEKIL, noun A stone, white or yellow, which hardens in the fire, and of which Turkey pipes are made.

KEF'FEKILL, noun A mineral, the meerschaum, which see.

KEG, noun A small cask or barrel; written more correctly cag.

KELL, noun A sort of pottage. [Not used in America.]

KELL, noun The caul or omentum. [See Caul, the usual orthography of the word.]

1. The chrysalis of the caterpillar.

KELP, noun The calcined ashes of sea weed, used in the manufacture of glass. This is a dark color alkaline substance, which, in a furnace, vitrifies and becomes transparent.

KELP'Y, noun An imaginary spirit of the waters, in the form of a horse. [Local and vulgar.]

KEL'SON. [See Keelson.]

KELT'ER, noun The phrase, he is not in kelter signifies, he is not in a proper dress or equipage, or not in readiness.

KEMB, verb transitive To comb, which see. kemb is an obsolete orthography.

KEM'ELIN, noun A tub; a brewer's vessel. [Not in use.]

KEN, verb transitive [Latin canus, white, caneo, to be white, and this with Latin cano, to sing, canto, Eng. to cant, to chant; Latin gigno.]

1. To see at a distance; to descry.

We ken them from afar.

2. To know; to understand. [This verb is used chiefly in poetry.]

KEN, verb intransitive To look round.

KEN, noun View; reach of sight.

Coasting they kept the land within their ken

KEN'NEL, noun [Latin canis, a dog.]

1. A house or cot for dogs, or for a pack of hounds.

2. A pack of hounds or their cry.

3. The hole of a fox or other beast; a haunt.

KEN'NEL, noun [Eng.channel.]

1. The water-course of a street; a little canal or channel.

2. A puddle.

KEN'NEL, verb intransitive To lodge; to lie; to dwell; as a dog or a fox.

The dog kenneled in a hollow tree.

KEN'NEL, verb transitive To keep or confine in a kennel

KEN'NING, noun View, sight.

KEN'TLE, noun [Latin centum.] In commerce, a hundred pounds in weight; as a kentle of fish. [It is written and pronounced also quintal.]

KENT'LEDGE. noun In seamen's language, pigs of iron for ballast laid on the floor of a ship.

KEPT, preterit tense and participle passive of keep.

KER'CHIEF, noun [contracted from coverchief.]

1. A head dress; a cloth to cover the head.

2. A cloth used in dress.

The word is now seldom used, except in its compound, handkerchief, and sometimes neckerchief.

KER'CHIEFED

KER'CHIEFT , adjective Dressed; hooded; covered.

KER'CHIEFT , a. Dressed; hooded; covered.

KERF, noun [Eng. to carve.] The cut of an ax, a saw, or other instrument; the notch or slit made in wood by cutting.

KERM'ES, noun In zoology, an insect produced in the excrescences of a species of small oak, or the body of an insect transformed into a grain, berry, or husk. This body is full of reddish juice, which

is used in dyeing red. Hence the word crimson.

KERN, noun An Irish footman or foot-soldier.

1. In English laws, an idle person or vagabond.

KERN, noun A hand-mill consisting of two stones, one of which is turned by the hand; usually written quern, which see.

1. A churn.

KERN, verb intransitive

1. To harden, as corn in ripening.

2. To take the form of corns; to granulate.

KERN'-BABY, noun [corn-baby.] An image dressed with corn, and carried before reapers to their harvest-home.

KERN'EL, noun

1. The edible substance contained in the shell of a nut.

2. Any thing included in a shell, husk or integument; a grain or corn; as a kernel of wheat or oats.

3. The seed of pulpy fruit; as the kernel of an apple.

4. The central part of any thing; a small mass around which other matter is concreted; a nucleus.

5. A hard concretion in the flesh.

KERN'EL, verb intransitive To harden or ripen into kernels; as the seeds of plants.

KERN'ELLY, adjective Full of kernels; resembling kernels.

KER'SEY, noun A species of coarse woolen cloth; a coarse stuff made chiefly in Kent and Devonshire in England.

KERVE, verb transitive To carve. [Not used.]

KERV'ER, noun A carver. [Not used.]

KE'SAR, noun [from Caesar.] An emperor.

KES'TREL, noun A fowl of the genus Falco, or hawk kind; called also stannel and windhover. It builds in hollow oaks, and feeds on quails and other small birds.

KETCH, noun A vessel with two masts, a main and mizen-mast, usually from 100 to 250 tones burden. Ketches are generally used as yachts or as bomb-vessels. The latter are called bomb-ketches.

KETCH'UP, noun A sauce. [See Catchup.]

KET'TLE, noun A vessel of iron or other metal, with a wide mouth, usually without a cover, used for heating and boiling water or other liquor.

Among the Tartars, a kettle represents a family, or as many as feed from one kettle

Among the Dutch, a battery of mortars sunk in the earth, is called a kettle

KEV'EL, noun In ships, a piece of timber serving to belay the sheets or great ropes by which the bottoms of the fore-sail and main-sail are extended.

KEX, noun Hemlock; the stem of the teasel; a dry stalk. [See Kecksy.]

KEY, noun ke. In a general sense, a fastener; that which fastens; as a piece of wood in the frame of a building, or in a chain, etc.

1. An instrument for shutting or opening a lock, by pushing the bolt one way or the other. Keys are of various forms, and fitted to the wards of the locks to which they belong.

2. An instrument by which something is screwed or turned; as the key of a watch or other chronometer.

3. The stone which binds an arch. [See Key-stone.]

4. In an organ or harpsichord, the key or finger key is a little lever or piece in the fore part by which the instrument is played on by the fingers.

5. In music, the key or key note, is the fundamental note or tone, to which the whole piece is accommodated, and with which it usually begins and always ends. There are two keys, one of the major, and one of the minor mode. key sometimes signifies a scale or system of intervals.

6. An index, or that which serves to explain a cypher. Hence,

7. That which serves to explain any thing difficult to be understood.

8. In the Romish church, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or the power of the pope, or the power of excommunicating or absolving.

9. A ledge or lay of ricks near the surface of the water.

10. The husk containing the seed of an ash.

KEY, noun A bank or wharf built on the side of a river or harbor, for the convenience of loading and unloading ships, and securing them in their stations. Hence keys are furnished with posts, rings, cranes, capstans, etc. It is sometimes written quay.

KE'YAGE, noun Money paid for the use of a key or quay.

KE'YED, adjective Furnished with keys; as a keyed instrument.

1. Set to a key, as a tune.

KE'YHOLE, noun A hole or aperture in a door or lock, for receiving a key.

KE'YSTONE, noun The stone on the top or middle of an arch or vault, which being wider at the top than at the bottom, enters like a wedge and binds the work; properly, the fastening-stone.

KHAN, noun kaun. In Asia, a governor; a king; a prince; a chief. In Persia, the word denotes the governor of a province; among the Tartars, it is equivalent to king or prince.

1. An inn.