1. large cleats or bollards on a ship used for securing ropes or cables
Usage: nautical; plural form

Examples

• The sailors secured the mooring lines to the kevels on deck.
• Heavy kevels were mounted along the ship’s rail for rope handling.
• The crew wrapped the anchor cable around the kevels.
• Steel kevels replaced the old wooden ones during the ship’s refit.
• The kevels groaned under the strain of the taut hawser.