Careen originally meant to tip a ship on its side for hull cleaning — pirates depended on it since they couldn't use official dockyards.
To tilt or lean to one side while in motion. Originally a nautical term meaning to turn a ship on its side for cleaning or repair of the hull.
From French carener (to careen a ship), from Italian carenare, from carena (keel of a ship), from Latin carina (keel, nutshell, hull) Key roots: carina (Latin: "keel of a ship, hull"), carena (Italian: "keel").
Careen originally meant to deliberately tip a ship on its side to scrape barnacles and weed from the hull — essential maintenance in the age of sail, since marine growth drastically reduced a ship's speed. Pirates were especially dependent on careening, since they couldn't use official dockyards. Many Caribbean islands were called "careening places." The modern meaning — swerving wildly, as in "the car careened around the corner" — is technically a confusion with "career" (to rush at full