Keelhauling

//ˈkiːlhɔːlɪŋ// noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act by which a person is keelhauled.

    "‘We was a-talkin’ of keel-hauling,’ answered Morgan. / ‘Keel-hauling, was you? And a mighty suitable thing, too, and you may lay to that. Get back to your place for a lubber, Tom.’"

  2. 2
    A thorough thrashing or mauling; rough treatment. broadly, obsolete, slang
Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of keelhaul. form-of, gerund, participle, present

Synonyms

All synonyms
confinementdismembermentestrapadegalleysgantletgauntlet

Example

More examples

"Sailors died of flogging or keelhauling."

Etymology

From keelhaul + -ing.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.