Make Your Point: KEELHAUL

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pronounce KEELHAUL:

KEEL hall

connect this word to others:

Sometimes English scares me. It's like a shady figure slinking through a dark alley in a trench coat full of verbs that, used figuratively, mean "to criticize harshly," but used literally, mean things like

1. "to beat with a stick:" lam____e;

2. "to strip off the skin:" ex___iate;

3. "to rip out the guts:" e____erate;

and 4. "to drag under a ship:" keelhaul.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

(Source)

"Keelhaul" came from Dutch into English in the 1600s. It means "to haul someone under the keel of a ship," a punishment or even execution that sources suggest may have been dealt out to sailors who, for example, deserted their posts or committed piracy or murder.

Such a violent punishment has long since been outlawed, but today we still use the word "keelhaul" in a figurative way. To keelhaul people is to express extremely harsh disapproval of them, as if you're dragging them beneath the bottom of a ship.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, the transitive kind: "Wow, you didn't need to keelhaul him for that."

Other forms:

The other verb forms are "keelhauled" and "keelhauling."

how to use it:

Pick the rare and violent word "keelhaul" when you want to suggest that someone's criticism of someone else is so harsh that it's cruel and injurious.

Say that someone keelhauls someone else, possibly for or over some misdeed.

examples:

"[Tina Sinatra] isn't out to keelhaul her father, at least not consciously. 'He was a man who all his life looked outside for what was missing inside,' she concludes at one point."
— Bruce Handy, Time, 13 November 2000

"For the Devil is commissioned
to harm, to keelhaul us with loss, with knowledge
of how all things splendid are disfigured by small
and small."
— Jack Gilbert, "Gift Horses," 1994

has this page helped you understand "keelhaul"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "keelhaul" without saying "rip into" or "flay."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "After (doing or saying something awful), (someone) wasn't just canceled; they were keelhauled."

Example: "After painting a tragic school shooting as a hoax, Alex Jones wasn't just canceled; he was keelhauled."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is Slide Into The Title: Elton John Edition!

Have you noticed how pop songs tend to use rhyme, rhythm, and semantics to guide you straight into singing the correct title, even if you’ve never heard it before? I love that, how the title clicks into place. See if you can slide into a complete title, given a snippet of lyrics.

You can check out some examples here.

Try this last one today:

"And yeah, I've seen your movie,
And I read it in your book.
The truth just flew off every page.
Your songs have all the hooks.
You're seven wonders rolled in one.
You shifted gears to cruise.
Oh you came to town in headlines
And eight-hundred-______ _____."

To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of KEELHAUL is

A. EXALT: lift up with praise.
B. WELD: bring together permanently.
C. DEFENESTRATE: chuck out of a window.

2. The appropriately named podcast "Keelhauled" focuses on the game _____.

A. RuneScape 3, about quests
B. Sea of Thieves, about pirates
C. Guild Wars 2, about combat and cooperation

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > KEELHAUL

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