night key


noun
  1. a key for a night latch.

Origin of night key

1
An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use night key in a sentence

  • Didn't me and the fellers have to cave in your door with a night-key wrench—sa-a-ay?

  • All my lodgers were in but one, a young gentleman who has a night-key.

    The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow | Anna Katharine Green
  • Mr. Stanford opened it with a night-key, and they entered, and went upstairs, still in silence.

  • Theodore applied his night-key, and with cat-like tread they moved across the hall, and the library door swung noiselessly open.

    Three People | Pansy
  • The door is opened before he can turn the bolt with his night-key, and the whitest possible little hand presses his.

    Daisy's Necklace | Thomas Bailey Aldrich