keel over

verb

1. to turn upside down; capsize
2. informal.
   intr to collapse suddenly

Idioms and Phrases

Collapse, as if in a faint; also, faint. For example, When she heard the awful news, she keeled over . This term alludes to a vessel rolling on its keel and capsizing. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

You have to do comparisons and say, ‘I need more space to sing so I don’t just keel over.’

From Los Angeles Times

“I’m paying through the nose. Every day, I’m seeing another bill, and I’m about to keel over.”

From Los Angeles Times

A second video, apparently taken from a nearby security camera, appears to show two soldiers shooting Ben-Avraham from a close distance as he keels over backward onto the sidewalk.

From Seattle Times

In the shadow of the spirea we keeled over, gasping in the grass.

From Literature

Ms Marten previously told the jurors she had fallen asleep sitting up in a tent and "keeled over", waking up to find Victoria dead.

From BBC

Related Words

• pass out