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KEY
cardinal, central, fundamental, key, primal
(adjective) serving as an essential component; âa cardinal ruleâ; âthe central cause of the problemâ; âan example that was fundamental to the argumentâ; âcomputers are fundamental to modern industrial structureâ
key
(noun) metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lockâs mechanism can be rotated
key
(noun) a lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed
keystone, key, headstone
(noun) the central building block at the top of an arch or vault
winder, key
(noun) mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)
key
(noun) pitch of the voice; âhe spoke in a low keyâ
key
(noun) something crucial for explaining; âthe key to development is economic integrationâ
key
(noun) a generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access; âa safe-deposit box usually requires two keys to open itâ
key
(noun) a list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations
key
(noun) a list of answers to a test; âsome students had stolen the key to the final examâ
key, tonality
(noun) any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
key, paint
(noun) (basketball) a space (including the foul line) in front of the basket at each end of a basketball court; usually painted a different color from the rest of the court; âhe hit a jump shot from the top of the keyâ; âhe dominates play in the paintâ
key, cay, Florida key
(noun) a coral reef off the southern coast of Florida
Key, Francis Scott Key
(noun) United States lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812; the poem was later set to music and entitled âThe Star-Spangled Bannerâ (1779-1843)
samara, key fruit, key
(noun) a winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple
key
(noun) a kilogram of a narcotic drug; âthey were carrying two keys of heroinâ
key
(verb) harmonize with or adjust to; âkey oneâs actions to the votersâ prevailing attitudeâ
identify, discover, key, key out, distinguish, describe, name
(verb) identify as in botany or biology, for example
key
(verb) vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key; âHis new Mercedes was keyed last night in the parking lotâ
key
(verb) provide with a key; âWe were keyed after the locks were changed in the buildingâ
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Proper noun
Key
A surname.
Anagrams
• Kye, kye
Etymology 1
Noun
key (plural keys)
An object designed to open and close a lock.
An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as a shaft and a wheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relative orientation.
A crucial step or requirement.
A guide explaining the symbols or terminology of a map or chart; a legend.
A guide to the correct answers of a worksheet or test.
(computing) One of several small, usually square buttons on a typewriter or computer keyboard, mostly corresponding to text characters.
(music)
In musical instruments, one of the valve levers used to select notes, such as a lever opening a hole on a woodwind.
In instruments with a keyboard such as an organ or piano, one of the levers, or especially the exposed front end of it, which are depressed to cause a particular sound or note to be produced.
(music)
The lowest note of a scale; keynote.
In musical theory, the total melodic and harmonic relations, which exist between the tones of an ideal scale, major or minor; tonality.
In musical theory and notation, the tonality centering in a given tone, or the several tones taken collectively, of a given scale, major or minor.
In musical notation, a sign at the head of a staff indicating the musical key.
(figurative) The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.
(advertising) A modification of an advertisement so as to target a particular group or demographic.
(botany) An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, such as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara.
(historical) A manual electrical switching device primarily used for the transmission of Morse code.
(cryptography) A piece of information (e.g. a passphrase) used to encode or decode a message or messages.
(internet) A password restricting access to an IRC channel.
(databases) In a relational database, a field used as an index into another table (not necessarily unique).
(computing) A value that uniquely identifies an entry in a container.
(basketball) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line, the free-throw lane having formerly been narrower, giving the area the shape of a skeleton key hole.
(biology) A series of logically organized groups of discriminating information which aims to allow the user to correctly identify a taxon.
(architecture) A piece of wood used as a wedge.
(architecture) The last board of a floor when laid down.
(masonry) A keystone.
That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
(rail transport) A wooden support for a rail on the bullhead rail system.
The degree of roughness, or retention ability of a surface to have applied a liquid such as paint, or glue.
(cartomancy) The thirty-third card of the Lenormand deck.
(print and film) The black ink layer, especially in relation to the three color layers of cyan, magenta, and yellow. See also CMYK.
(computer graphics, television) A color to be masked or made transparent.
Hyponyms
• candidate key
• card key
• church key
• database key
• foreign key
• major key
• minor key
• Morse key
• primary key
• silent key
• skeleton key
• unique key
Adjective
key (comparative more key, superlative most key)
Indispensable, supremely important.
Important, salient.
Verb
key (third-person singular simple present keys, present participle keying, simple past and past participle keyed)
To fit (a lock) with a key.
To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them.
To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class.
(telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).
(radio) To operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio).
(computing) (more usually to key in) To enter (information) by typing on a keyboard or keypad.
(colloquial) To vandalize (a car, etc.) by scratching with an implement such as a key.
To link (as one might do with a key or legend).
(intransitive, biology, chiefly, taxonomy) To be identified as a certain taxon when using a key.
(advertising, transitive) To modify (an advertisement) so as to target a particular group or demographic.
To attune to; to set at; to pitch.
To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.
Etymology 2
Noun
key (plural keys)
One of a string of small islands.
Etymology 3
Noun
key (plural keys)
Alternative form of quay.
Etymology 4
Noun
key (plural keys)
(slang) Clipping of kilogram (especially of a recreational drug)
Synonym: kay
Anagrams
• Kye, kye
Source: Wiktionary
Key, n. Etym: [OE. keye, key, kay, AS. c
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.)
Definition: 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, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Keved; p. pr. & vb. n. Keying.]
Definition: 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Word of the Day
18 November 2024
AWRY
(adjective) not functioning properly; âsomething is amissâ; âhas gone completely haywireâ; âsomething is wrong with the engineâ
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