Chalk vs. Keel — What's the Difference?

A soft white limestone used for writing on blackboards.

Enhances the stability and steering of a vessel.

Used by tailors for marking fabric.

Keel laying is a celebrated shipbuilding tradition.

Ground into powder for gymnastics and climbing to improve grip.

The main beam of a ship or boat that runs along the bottom of the hull.

Small sticks of colored chalk are used for drawing on sidewalks.

Acts as the backbone for structural integrity in shipbuilding.

In sports, used to mark boundaries and game lines.

In biology, refers to a specific structure resembling a ship's keel in some birds and plants.

Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton which had fallen to the sea floor. Chalk is common throughout Western Europe, where deposits underlie parts of France, and steep cliffs are often seen where they meet the sea in places such as the Dover cliffs on the Kent coast of the English Channel.

The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well.

A white soft earthy limestone (calcium carbonate) formed from the skeletal remains of sea creatures.

The lengthwise timber or steel structure along the base of a ship, supporting the framework of the whole, in some vessels extended downwards as a ridge to increase stability.

Short for French chalk

A ridge along the breastbone of many birds to which the flight muscles are attached; the carina.

Write or draw with chalk

A prow-shaped pair of petals present in flowers of the pea family.

Charge (drinks bought in a pub or bar) to a person's account

A flat-bottomed boat of a kind formerly used on the Tyne and Wear Rivers for loading ships carrying coal.

A soft compact calcite, CaCO3, with varying amounts of silica, quartz, feldspar, or other mineral impurities, generally gray-white or yellow-white and derived chiefly from fossil seashells.

(of a boat or ship) turn over on its side; capsize

A piece of chalk or chalklike substance in crayon form, used for marking on a blackboard or other surface.

The principal structural member of a boat or ship, running along the center of the hull from bow to stern, to which the ribs are attached.

(Games) A small cube of chalk used in rubbing the tip of a billiard or pool cue to increase its friction with the cue ball.

A projecting ridge or fin on the bottom of the hull of a boat or ship that improves directional control and is often weighted for added stability.

A mark made with chalk.

The principal structural member of an aircraft, resembling a ship's keel in shape and function.

Chiefly British A score or tally.

A structure, such as the breastbone of a bird, that resembles a ship's keel in function or shape.

To mark, draw, or write with chalk

A pair of united petals in certain flowers, as those of many members of the pea family.

To rub or cover with chalk, as the tip of a billiard cue.

A sail-powered barge, especially one historically used on the rivers of northern England.

To make pale; whiten.

The load capacity of this barge.

To treat (soil, for example) with chalk.

A British unit of weight formerly used for coal, equal to about 21.2 long tons.

(uncountable) A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO3).

To capsize or cause to capsize.

(countable) A piece of chalk, or nowadays processed compressed gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO4), that is used for drawing and for writing on a blackboard (chalkboard).

To make cool.

Tailor's chalk.

(nautical) A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern.

A white powdery substance used to prevent hands slipping from holds when climbing, or losing grip in weight-lifting or gymnastics, sometimes but not always limestone-chalk, often magnesium carbonate (MgCO3).

(nautical) A rigid, flat piece of material anchored to the lowest part of the hull of a ship to give it greater control and stability.

A platoon-sized group of airborne soldiers.

(aeronautics) In a dirigible, a construction similar in form and use to a ship's keel; in an aeroplane, a fin or fixed surface employed to increase stability and to hold the machine to its course.

The favorite in a sporting event.

(by extension) The rigid bottom part of something else, especially an iceberg.

The prediction that there will be no upsets, and the favored competitor will win.

(nautical) A type of flat-bottomed boat.

To apply chalk to anything, such as the tip of a billiard cue.

(zoology) The periphery of a whorl extended to form a more or less flattened plate; a prominent spiral ridge.

To record something, as on a blackboard, using chalk.

(botany) The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and enclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina.

To use powdered chalk to mark the lines on a playing field.

(brewing) A broad, flat vessel used for cooling liquids; a brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.

(figuratively) To record a score or event, as if on a chalkboard.

(Scotland) Red chalk; ruddle.

To manure (land) with chalk.

To collapse, to fall

To make white, as if with chalk; to make pale; to bleach.

To traverse with a keel; to navigate.

A soft, earthy substance, of a white, grayish, or yellowish white color, consisting of calcium carbonate, and having the same composition as common limestone.

To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.

Finely prepared chalk, used as a drawing implement; also, by extension, a compound, as of clay and black lead, or the like, used in the same manner. See Crayon.

To cool; make cool; to cool by stirring or skimming in order to keep from boiling over.

To rub or mark with chalk.

To moderate the ardour or intensity of; assuage; to appease, pacify, or lessen.

To manure with chalk, as land.

To become cool; cool down.

To make white, as with chalk; to make pale; to bleach.

To mark with ruddle.

A soft whitish calcite

Pronunciation spelling of kill

A pure flat white with little reflectance

To cool; to skim or stir.

Amphetamine used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant

To traverse with a keel; to navigate.

A piece of chalk (or similar substance) used for writing on blackboards or other surfaces

To turn up the keel; to show the bottom.

Write, draw, or trace with chalk

A brewer's cooling vat; a keelfat.

A longitudinal timber, or series of timbers scarfed together, extending from stem to stern along the bottom of a vessel. It is the principal timber of the vessel, and, by means of the ribs attached on each side, supports the vessel's frame. In an iron vessel, a combination of plates supplies the place of the keel of a wooden ship. See Illust. of Keelson.

Fig.: The whole ship.

A barge or lighter, used on the Tyne for carrying coal from Newcastle; also, a barge load of coal, twenty-one tons, four cwt.

The two lowest petals of the corolla of a papilionaceous flower, united and inclosing the stamens and pistil; a carina. See Carina.

A projecting ridge along the middle of a flat or curved surface.

In a dirigible, a construction similar in form and use to a ship's keel; in an aëroplane, a fin or fixed surface employed to increase stability and to hold the machine to its course.

The median ridge on the breastbone of birds that fly

One of the main longitudinal beams (or plates) of the hull of a vessel; can extend vertically into the water to provide lateral stability

Walk as if unable to control one's movements;

Chalk is best used on rough surfaces like blackboards and sidewalks where it can leave visible marks.

Chalk is manufactured by mining natural chalk, crushing it, and then forming it into sticks.

Chalk has a low environmental impact, mainly involving the extraction of limestone.

The keel plays a crucial role in the ship’s balance and navigational ability, especially in steering and stability.

Keels are commonly made from steel or wood, depending on the type of ship.

A keel laying ceremony is a traditional event marking the beginning of a ship's construction.

Keels are constructed using durable materials like steel or wood, and are integral to the ship's design.

Chalk is primarily made of calcite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate.

Chalk is commonly used by teachers for writing on blackboards to display information visually.

The keel provides stability and structural integrity to ships, helping them navigate better.