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

Almighty God, Who sees and knows all things, And for whom all things are possible, May this guy keel over of a heart attack Or something. —Ian Frazier, The New Yorker, 10 Mar. 2025

In a video first posted to the Mississippi legislature’s YouTube page that has since been deleted but posted elsewhere, Hosemann, 77, can be seen standing at the podium before bowing his head, slowly keeling over into the microphone, and then collapsing to the side. —Brady Knox, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 20 Feb. 2025

The Boss The boss knew something was wrong when the hens stopped keeling over. —Meridith Kohut, New York Times, 26 Dec. 2024

For Now: Barca star will return during legal battle Try not to keel over in shock but Barcelona have secured permission to continue fielding Dani Olmo. —Phil Hay, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025

In temperatures that touched 30C (86F) and humidity that reached 90 per cent, their identity was reduced to not keeling over and using regular intervals to take on water. —George Caulkin, The Athletic, 31 July 2024

Otherwise healthy workers keel over at their desks after long stretches of overtime or after consummating a high-pressure deal, usually from a stroke or heart attack. —Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2024

The worst of them came on Sept. 3, 2017, when Scott was discovered by park security keeled over a bench in California Adventure near the 1901 Lounge. —Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Sep. 2024

In these dire straits, rather than keel over and die, many organisms have mastered the art of dormancy. —Dan Samorodnitsky, Quanta Magazine, 5 June 2024

Rhymes for keel over

• carryover
• changeover
• crossover
• cutover
• flashover
• hangover
• holdover
• layover
• leftover
• makeover
• moreover
• passover

Kids Definition

keel over

verb

: to fall suddenly (as in a faint)