Keelhaul

//ˈkiːlhɔːl//

Synonyms for "keelhaul" (36 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

4 relation types

derived

1 entries

derived from

1 entries

has context

1 entries

related to

6 entries

Translations

14 translations across 12 languages.

Powered by Wiktionary

Afrikaans

1 entries
  • kielhaal verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Danish

1 entries
  • kølhale verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Dutch

1 entries
  • kielhalen verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Faroese

2 entries
  • kjøldraga verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)
  • kjølhála verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Finnish

1 entries
  • vetää kölin alta verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

French

1 entries
  • donner la cale verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

German

1 entries
  • kielholen verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Hungarian

1 entries
  • hajó(tőke) alatti áthúzás verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Icelandic

1 entries
  • kjöldraga verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Norwegian Bokmål

1 entries
  • kjølhale verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Norwegian Nynorsk

2 entries
  • kjølhala verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)
  • kjølhale verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Swedish

1 entries
  • kölhala verb (punish by dragging under the keel of a ship)

Sample sentences

8 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

None of your sass, Jasper, or I'll keelhaul you!

Source: tatoeba (10650006)

March 11 [1667].—Hermans Jans, boatswain; disobedience of orders and stabbing his captain; sentenced to be degraded to common seaman, to be thrice keelhauled, to be well flogged, to have the knife stuck through his hand, and to forfeit, pro fisco, 6 months' wages.

Source: wiktionary

By degrees they became noisier and noisier, their conversation principally turning on that infernal naval lieutenant, as they were pleased to designate me, and what they intended to do with him. Some suggested “keelhauling” him; others, a dose of his favourite cat-o’nine tails; whilst many advised making a target of him for a little practice with that revolver which had previously so cowed them all.

Source: wiktionary

To keelhaul is the cruelest and most dangerous of punishments and tortures ever devised for men aboard a ship. It involves trussing a man up with ropes, throwing him overboard, unable to swim, and hauling him under the boat's keel from one side to the other, or even from stem to stern. Most of those keelhauled under water are already dead when their punishment is over.

Source: wiktionary

Showing 4 of 8 available sentences.

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