kelter

kelter (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of kilter meaning order or balance
   • 1851, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, Personal Memoirs Of A Residence Of Thirty Years With The Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers‎:

     Fiscal--Something has been out of kelter at Washington these two years with regard to the rigid application of appropriations, at least in the Indian Department.

   • 1867, William Henry Smyth, The Sailor's Word-Book‎:

     --All over, resemblance to a particular object, as a ship in bad kelter: "she's a privateer all over."

   • 1910, Alexander Irvine, From the Bottom Up‎:

     It was intimated to me that such "frivolousness" was out of kelter with the profession of a Christian.

2. In a card game, a hand of cards which is useless; a dead man's hand