keelson

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keel·son

(kēl′sən, kĕl′-) also kel·son (kĕl′-)

n. Nautical

A timber or girder fastened above and parallel to the keel of a ship or boat for additional strength.

[Alteration (influenced by keel) of Middle English kelswin, probably from Old Norse *kjölsvīn : kjölr, keel + svīn, swine, timber; see sū- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

keelson

(ˈkɛlsən; ˈkiːl-) or

kelson

(Nautical Terms) a longitudinal beam fastened to the keel of a vessel for strength and stiffness

[C17: probably from Low German kielswin, keel swine, ultimately of Scandinavian origin]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

keel•son

(ˈkɛl sən, ˈkil-)

also kelson

any of various fore-and-aft structural members lying above or parallel to the keel in the bottom of a hull.

[1605–15; < Low German kielswin literally, keel swine]

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Noun

keelson - a longitudinal beam connected to the keel of ship to strengthen it

beam - long thick piece of wood or metal or concrete, etc., used in construction

hull - the frame or body of ship

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References in classic literature ?

Is not the main-truck higher than the kelson is low?

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Now, it is no very easy matter for anybody --except those who are almost hourly used to it, like whalemen --to clamber up a ship's side from a boat on the open sea; for the great swells now lift the boat high up towards the bulwarks, and then instantaneously drop it half way down to the kelson. so, deprived of one leg, and the strange ship of course being altogether unsupplied with the kindly invention, Ahab now found himself abjectly reduced to a clumsy landsman again; hopelessly eyeing the uncertain changeful height he could hardly hope to attain.

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'Well,' says the doctor, 'let's bargain.' We bargained, him and I, and here we are: stores, brandy, block house, the firewood you was thoughtful enough to cut, and in a manner of speaking, the whole blessed boat, from cross-trees to kelson. As for them, they've tramped; I don't know where's they are."