Etymology

keel over

Today it means: Of a vessel: to roll so far on its side that it cannot recover; to capsize or turn turtle. Full definition →

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The story

The original nautical meaning (sense 1) refers to a vessel rolling to the extent that its keel (“a large beam along the underside of the vessel’s hull from bow to stern”) is visible.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.