keel over

phrasal verb

keeled over; keeling over; keels over
informal
: to fall down suddenly
He just keeled over and died from a heart attack.
I almost keeled over with/in laughter.

Examples of keel over in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Up to this point, Robbie had been playing a silly fantasy on the fritz, contemplating death, keeling over on fake lawns in real defeat. Wesley Morris, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024 Despite the jaunty pop song playing, an older man going for a morning jog in a scrubby Buenos Aires park, suddenly keels over dead of a heart attack. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 29 Sep. 2023 Abdul Hamid, a day laborer who lives next to the crash site, recalled seeing Waris keeled over vomiting and hearing vigilantes say that Waris was pleading for water. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2023 Inside the burn, loblolly pine saplings keeled over, their leaves shriveling. Adithi Ramakrishnan, Dallas News, 24 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'keel over.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near keel over

Cite this Entry

“Keel over.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keel%20over. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

keel over

verb
: to fall suddenly (as in a faint)

More from Merriam-Webster on keel over

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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