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key

1  [kee] noun, plural keys, adjective, verb, keyed, key⋅ing.
Use key in a Sentence
–noun
1. a small metal instrument specially cut to fit into a lock and move its bolt.
2. any of various devices resembling or functioning as a key: the key of a clock.
3. key card.
4. something that affords a means of access: the key to happiness.
5. something that secures or controls entrance to a place: Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.
6. something that affords a means of clarifying a problem.
7. a book, pamphlet, or other text containing the solutions or translations of material given elsewhere, as testing exercises.
8. a systematic explanation of abbreviations, symbols, etc., used in a dictionary, map, etc.: pronunciation key. Compare legend (def. 4).
9. the system, method, pattern, etc., used to decode or decipher a cryptogram, as a code book, machine setting, or key word.
10. one of a set of marked parts, designated areas, or levers pressed in operating a typewriter, computer terminal, calculator, etc.
11. a manually operated lever for opening and closing an electric circuit, used to produce signals in telegraphy.
12. Music.
a. (in a keyboard instrument) one of the levers that when depressed by the performer sets in motion the playing mechanism.
b. (on a woodwind instrument) a metal lever that opens and closes a vent.
c. the relationship perceived between all tones in a given unit of music and a single tone or a keynote; tonality.
d. the principal tonality of a composition: a symphony in the key of C minor.
e. the keynote or tonic of a scale.
13. tone or pitch, as of voice: to speak in a high key.
14. mood or characteristic style, as of expression or thought: He writes in a melancholy key.
15. degree of intensity, as of feeling or action.
16. a pin, bolt, wedge, or other piece inserted in a hole or space to lock or hold parts of a mechanism or structure together; a cotter.
17. a small piece of steel fitting into matching slots of a hub of a wheel or the like and the shaft on which the wheel is mounted so that torque is transmitted from one to the other.
18. a contrivance for grasping and turning a bolt, nut, etc.
19. Computers. a field or group of characters within a record that identifies the record, establishing its position among sorted records, and/or provides information about its contents.
20. (in a series of advertisements or announcements soliciting replies) a unique code inserted for each medium used, to determine the relative effectiveness of the media.
21. Electricity.
a. a device for opening and closing electrical contacts.
b. a hand-operated switching device ordinarily formed of concealed spring contacts with an exposed handle or push button, capable of switching one or more parts of a circuit.
22. Biology. a systematic tabular classification of the significant characteristics of the members of a group of organisms to facilitate identification and comparison.
23. Masonry. a keystone.
24. Architecture. (in a ribbed vault) a stone, as a boss, at the intersection of two or more ribs.
25. Masonry, Carpentry. a wedge, as for tightening a joint or splitting a stone or timber.
26. Carpentry. a small piece of wood set into a timber across the grain to prevent warping.
27. Building Trades. any grooving or roughness applied to a surface to improve its bond with another surface.
28. Basketball. keyhole (def. 2).
29. Photography. the dominant tonal value of a picture, a high-key picture having light tonal values and minimal contrast and a low-key picture being generally dark with minimal contrast.
30. Painting. the tonal value and intensity of a color or range of colors: Rembrandt's colors are characterized by their low key.
31. Botany. a samara.
32. (initial capital letter) a member of the House of Keys.
33. keys, spiritual authority.
–adjective
34. chief; major; important; essential; fundamental; pivotal: a key person in the company; key industries.
–verb (used with object)
35. to regulate or adjust (actions, thoughts, speech, etc.) to a particular state or activity; bring into conformity: to key one's speech to the intellectual level of the audience.
36. Music. to regulate the key or pitch of.
37. Painting.
a. to paint (a picture) in a given key.
b. to adjust the colors in (a painting) to a particular hue: He keyed the painting to brown.
38. to fasten, secure, or adjust with a key, wedge, or the like, as parts of a mechanism.
39. to provide with a key.
40. (in the layout of newspapers, magazines, etc.) to identify, through signs or symbols, the positions of illustrations or pieces of copy in a dummy.
41. to lock with or as if with a key.
42. Masonry. to provide (an arch or vault) with a keystone.
43. Computers. keyboard (def. 4).
–verb (used without object)
44. to use a key.
45. Computers. keyboard (def. 4).
—Verb phrases
46. key in, Computers. keyboard (def. 4).
47. key on,
a. Football. to watch the position and movements of an opponent in order to anticipate a play: The defensive backs keyed on the star receiver.
b. Also, key in on. to single out as of prime importance or interest; be intent on or obsessed with: a company that is keyed in on growth.
48. key up,
a. to bring to a particular degree of intensity of feeling, excitement, energy, nervousness, agitation, etc.: keyed up over the impending test.
b. to raise (a piece of masonry) by the insertion of a wedge or wedges.
c. to raise (the haunches of an arch) by the insertion of a voussoir.
—Idiom
49. power of the keys, the authority of a pope in ecclesiastical matters, vested in him as successor of St. Peter.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME key(e), kay(e), OE cǣg, cǣge; c. OFris kei, kai

Synonyms:
6. answer, explanation, resolution, clue.

key

2  [kee]
–noun, plural keys.
a reef or low island; cay.
Origin:
1690–1700; < Sp cayo, prob. < Arawak

key

3  [kee]
–noun, plural keys. Slang.
a kilogram of marijuana or a narcotic drug.
Origin:
1965–70, Americanism; shortening and resp. of kilogram

Key

  [kee]
–noun
Francis Scott, 1780–1843, U.S. lawyer: author of The Star-Spangled Banner.

key⋅board

  [kee-bawrd, -bohrd]
–noun
1. the row or set of keys on a piano, organ, or the like.
2. a set of keys, usually arranged in tiers, for operating a typewriter, typesetting machine, computer terminal, or the like.
3. any of various musical instruments played by means of a pianolike keyboard, as a piano, electric piano, or organ.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
4. Also, key, key in. Computers. to enter (information) into a computer by means of a keyboard.
5. to set (text) in type, using a machine that is operated by a keyboard.
Origin:
1810–20; key 1 + board

Related forms:
keyboarder, keyboardist, noun

key⋅hole

  [kee-hohl]
–noun
1. a hole for inserting a key in a lock, esp. one in the shape of a circle with a rectangle having a width smaller than the diameter of the circle projecting from the bottom.
2. Also called key. Basketball. the area at each end of the court that is bounded by two lines extending from the end line parallel to and equidistant from the sidelines and terminating in a circle around the foul line.
–adjective
3. extremely private or intimate, esp. with reference to information gained as if by peeping through a keyhole.
4. snooping and intrusive: a keyhole investigator.
Origin:
1585–95; key 1 + hole
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To key
key 1   (kē)   
n.   pl. keys
    1. A notched and grooved, usually metal implement that is turned to open or close a lock.
    2. A similar device used for opening or winding: the key of a clock; a can that has a key attached.
    3. A vital, crucial element.
    4. A set of answers to a test.
    5. A table, gloss, or cipher for decoding or interpreting.
    6. A button or lever that is depressed to operate a machine.
    7. A button that is depressed to cause a corresponding character or function to be typed or executed by a typewriter or to be accepted as input by a computer.
    8. Music A button or lever that is depressed with the finger to produce or modulate the sound of an instrument, such as a clarinet or piano.
    9. A tonal system consisting of seven tones in fixed relationship to a tonic, having a characteristic key signature and being the structural foundation of the bulk of Western music; tonality.
    10. The principal tonality of a work: an etude in the key of E.
  2. A means of access, control, or possession.
    1. A vital, crucial element.
    2. A set of answers to a test.
    3. A table, gloss, or cipher for decoding or interpreting.
    4. A button or lever that is depressed to operate a machine.
    5. A button that is depressed to cause a corresponding character or function to be typed or executed by a typewriter or to be accepted as input by a computer.
    6. Music A button or lever that is depressed with the finger to produce or modulate the sound of an instrument, such as a clarinet or piano.
    7. A tonal system consisting of seven tones in fixed relationship to a tonic, having a characteristic key signature and being the structural foundation of the bulk of Western music; tonality.
    8. The principal tonality of a work: an etude in the key of E.
  4. A device, such as a wedge or pin, inserted to lock together mechanical or structural parts.
  5. Architecture The keystone in the crown of an arch.
    1. A button or lever that is depressed to operate a machine.
    2. A button that is depressed to cause a corresponding character or function to be typed or executed by a typewriter or to be accepted as input by a computer.
    3. Music A button or lever that is depressed with the finger to produce or modulate the sound of an instrument, such as a clarinet or piano.
    4. A tonal system consisting of seven tones in fixed relationship to a tonic, having a characteristic key signature and being the structural foundation of the bulk of Western music; tonality.
    5. The principal tonality of a work: an etude in the key of E.
  7. Music
    1. A tonal system consisting of seven tones in fixed relationship to a tonic, having a characteristic key signature and being the structural foundation of the bulk of Western music; tonality.
    2. The principal tonality of a work: an etude in the key of E.
  8. The pitch of a voice or other sound.
  9. A characteristic tone or level of intensity, as of a speech or sales campaign. Often used in combination: high-key; low-key.
  10. Botany A samara.
  11. An outline of the distinguishing characteristics of a group of organisms, used as a guide in taxonomic identification.
  12. Basketball An area at each end of the court between the base line and the foul line and including the jump-ball circle at the foul line: a jump shot from the top of the key.
adj.  Of crucial importance; significant: key decisions; the key element of the thesis.
v.   keyed, key·ing, keys

v.   tr.
  1. To lock with or as if with a key.
  2. Architecture To furnish (an arch) with a keystone.
  3. Music To regulate the pitch of.
  4. To bring into harmony; adjust or adapt.
  5. To supply an explanatory key for.
    1. To operate (a device), as for typesetting, by means of a keyboard.
    2. To enter (data) into a computer by means of a keyboard.
  7. To identify (a biological specimen).
  8. To vandalize or mar by scratching with a key: Vandals keyed the cars left in the parking garage.
v.   intr.
  1. To pay close attention; focus: improved service by keying on customer complaints; keyed in on the main points of the lecture.
  2. Sports To watch or cover an opposing player closely in an effort to limit the player's effectiveness. Used with on: "[She] still carries the burden of scoring ... even though opponents key on her throughout every game" (Josh Barr).
Phrasal Verb(s):
key upTo make intense, excited, or nervous.

Idiom(s):
in keyIn consonance with other factors.

Idiom(s):
out of keyNot in consonance with other factors.

[Middle English kai, kei, from Old English cǣg.]
key 2   (kē)   
n.   pl. keys
A low offshore island or reef, especially in the Gulf of Mexico; a cay.

[Alteration (influenced by key, variant of quay) of Spanish cayo; see cay.]
key 3   (kē)   
n.   pl. keys Slang
A kilogram of marijuana, cocaine, or heroin.

[Shortening and alteration of kilogram.]
Key   (kē)   
American lawyer and poet who wrote "Defense of Fort M'Henry" after witnessing the British attack on Fort McHenry at Baltimore on September 13-14, 1814. The poem was set to the music of an 18th-century tune called "To Anacreon in Heaven," renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner," and in 1931 was adopted by Congress as the national anthem.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Key

Key\ (k[=e]), n. [OE. keye, key, kay, AS. c[ae]g.]

1. An instrument by means of which the bolt of a lock is shot or drawn; usually, a removable metal instrument fitted to the mechanism of a particular lock and operated by turning in its place.

2. An instrument which is turned like a key in fastening or adjusting any mechanism; as, a watch key; a bed key, etc.

3. That part of an instrument or machine which serves as the means of operating it; as, a telegraph key; the keys of a pianoforte, or of a typewriter.

4. A position or condition which affords entrance, control, pr possession, etc.; as, the key of a line of defense; the key of a country; the key of a political situation. Hence, that which serves to unlock, open, discover, or solve something unknown or difficult; as, the key to a riddle; the key to a problem.

Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true key of books. --Locke.

Who keeps the keys of all the creeds. --Tennyson.

5. That part of a mechanism which serves to lock up, make fast, or adjust to position.

6. (Arch.) (a) A piece of wood used as a wedge. (b) The last board of a floor when laid down.

7. (Masonry) (a) A keystone. (b) That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.

8. (Mach.) (a) A wedge to unite two or more pieces, or adjust their relative position; a cotter; a forelock. See Illusts. of Cotter, and Gib. (b) A bar, pin or wedge, to secure a crank, pulley, coupling, etc., upon a shaft, and prevent relative turning; sometimes holding by friction alone, but more frequently by its resistance to shearing, being usually embedded partly in the shaft and partly in the crank, pulley, etc.

9. (Bot.) An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara; -- called also key fruit.

10. (Mus.) (a) A family of tones whose regular members are called diatonic tones, and named key tone (or tonic) or one (or eight), mediant or three, dominant or five, subdominant or four, submediant or six, supertonic or two, and subtonic or seven. Chromatic tones are temporary members of a key, under such names as " sharp four," "flat seven," etc. Scales and tunes of every variety are made from the tones of a key. (b) The fundamental tone of a movement to which its modulations are referred, and with which it generally begins and ends; keynote.

Both warbling of one song, both in one key. --Shak.

11. Fig: The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.

You fall at once into a lower key. --Cowper.

Key bed. Same as Key seat.

Key bolt, a bolt which has a mortise near the end, and is secured by a cotter or wedge instead of a nut.

Key bugle. See Kent bugle.

Key of a position or country. (Mil.) See Key, 4.

Key seat (Mach.), a bed or groove to receive a key which prevents one part from turning on the other.

Key way, a channel for a key, in the hole of a piece which is keyed to a shaft; an internal key seat; -- called also key seat.

Key wrench (Mach.), an adjustable wrench in which the movable jaw is made fast by a key.

Power of the keys (Eccl.), the authority claimed by the ministry in some Christian churches to administer the discipline of the church, and to grant or withhold its privileges; -- so called from the declaration of Christ, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven." --Matt. xvi. 19.

Key

Key\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Keved; p. pr. & vb. n. Keying.] To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges. --Francis.

To key up. (a) (Arch.) To raise (the whole ring of an arch) off its centering, by driving in the keystone forcibly. (b) (Mus.) To raise the pitch of. (c) Hence, fig., to produce nervous tension in.

Key

Key\, n. (Teleg.) A metallic lever by which the circuit of the sending or transmitting part of a station equipment may be easily and rapidly opened and closed; any device for closing or opening an electric circuit.

Key

Key\, n. A simplified version or analysis which accompanies something as a clue to its explanation, a book or table containing the solutions to problems, ciphers, allegories, or the like, or a table or synopsis of conspicuous distinguishing characters of members of a taxonomic group.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : key
Spanish: llave,
German: der Schlüssel,
Japanese: かぎ
More Translations »

key

The main or central note of a piece of music (or part of a piece of music). Each key has its own scale, beginning and ending on the note that defines the octave of the next scale. The key of C-major uses a scale that starts on C and uses only the white keys of the piano. In a piece composed in the key of C, the music is likely to end on the note C, and certain combinations of notes based on C will predominate.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

key  (1)
"metal piece that works a lock," from O.E. cæg, of unknown origin, with no certain cognates other than O.Fris. kei. Perhaps related to M.L.G. keie "lance, spear" on notion of "tool to cleave with," from P.Gmc. *ki- "to cleaver, split" (cf. Ger. Keil "wedge," Goth. us-kijans "come forth," said of seed sprouts, keinan "to germinate"). Figurative sense of "that which serves to open or explain" was in O.E.; meaning "that which holds together other parts" is from 1523. Musical sense of "tone, note" is 15c., but modern sense of "scale" is 1590, probably from L. clavis or Fr. clef, from use in the Guidonian system for lowest note of a scale, which is its basis (cf. keynote). Also extended to "mechanism on a musical instrument" (c.1500).

key  (2)
"low island," 1697, from Sp. cayo "shoal, reef," from Taino cayo "small island;" spelling infl. by M.E. key "wharf" (1306), from O.Fr. kai "sand bank" (see quay).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: key
Function: adjective
: of vital importance (as in a business organization) esp. so as to be specially insured to the benefit of an employer <key man> <key employee insurance>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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key   (kē)  Pronunciation Key 
See cay.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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key
1. A value used to identify a record in a database, derived by applying some fixed function to the record. The key is often simply one of the fields (a column if the database is considered as a table with records being rows, see "key field"). Alternatively the key may be obtained by applying some function, e.g. a hash function, to one or more of the fields. The set of keys for all records forms an index. Multiple indexes may be built for one database depending on how it is to be searched.
2. A value which must be fed into the algorithm used to decode an encrypted message in order to reproduce the original plain text. Some encryption schemes use the same (secret) key to encrypt and decrypt a message, but public key encryption uses a "private" (secret) key and a "public" key which is known by all parties.
3. An electromechanical keyboard button.
(2003-07-04)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Key

frequently mentioned in Scripture. It is called in Hebrew _maphteah_, i.e., the opener (Judg. 3:25); and in the Greek New Testament _kleis_, from its use in shutting (Matt. 16:19; Luke 11:52; Rev. 1:18, etc.). Figures of ancient Egyptian keys are frequently found on the monuments, also of Assyrian locks and keys of wood, and of a large size (comp. Isa. 22:22). The word is used figuratively of power or authority or office (Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7; Rev. 1:8; comp. 9:1; 20:1; comp. also Matt. 16:19; 18:18). The "key of knowledge" (Luke 11:52; comp. Matt. 23:13) is the means of attaining the knowledge regarding the kingdom of God. The "power of the keys" is a phrase in general use to denote the extent of ecclesiastical authority.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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key

In addition to the idiom beginning with key, also see in key; under lock and key.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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