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🔑 A lock opener ⭐ Very important 🗝️ An answer or solution ⌨️ A button 🏝️ A small island 🌰 A winged seed 🎶 Music notes group 💊 A kilogram drug 🛠️ To adjust 🕰️ A winding tool 🪓 To scratch 🏀 Painted area 🔬 To identify 🏛️ A top stone
to key

to key

4 8.0
To identify a plant or animal using steps in a guide
  • verb
  • /ki/
  • Specialized
translation icon : identificar

Examples

  • OK, Another difference is we're going to key the nodes by depth.

  • Then start off by keying in the title of the mobile app you are looking for.

    Blog text (14)

  • Each day approximately 200 offenders worked, and 2 million records were keyed annually.

    Academic text (2013)

  • Her gaze shifted from the phone to another monitor as she keyed in the query.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • OK, let's try restoring our defaults and keying everything in manually again.

  • Religious faith for Hasidic Jews involves following a detailed set of commandments that are keyed to the activities of daily life.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Monitoring should be keyed to disturbance regimes (e.g., forest gaps), which may provide opportunities for new species to colonize.

    Academic text (2012)

  • To identify the plant species, the botanist had to key it using the systematic chart provided.

  • In order to determine its classification, you can key the animal according to the characteristics listed in the guide.

  • Students learned how to key different flowers based on their colors and shapes during the biology lesson.

Synonyms

to identify
vsto key
∞ 1.8

Say who someone is or what something is

is a specific form of that recognition using a systematic choice method
to key out
vsto key
  • Jargon
8.4

Find the name of a plant or animal using a guide

is classifying organisms using a systematic step by step choice method

Idioms

the key to
228 2.8

The main thing that makes something succeed or work

under lock and key
16 3.0

Kept in a locked place so people cannot take it

to throw away the key
  • Informal
12 8.8

Put someone in prison for life with no hope of release

to lock him up and throw away the key
  • Informal
2 9.5

Put someone in prison and never let them out

out of key
1 5.8

Not singing or playing the right musical notes

in a minor key
  • Specialized
1 6.6

Music that uses notes that make the song sound sad or serious

key to combating
3.9

An important thing or action that helps deal with a problem

to lock up and toss the key
  • Informal
9.3

Put someone in prison and never let them leave

moderation is key
4.2

Avoid extremes and do things in a balanced way

timing is key
4.2

Doing something at the right moment is important for success

Phrasal Verbs

to key in
3 3.4

To type information into a computer or device using a keyboard

to key down
5.5

To type notes or information on a computer keyboard

to key out
  • Jargon
8.4

Find the name of a plant or animal using a guide

to sing in key
4.0

To match your voice to the notes of the song

Compounds

key point
43 3.1

A main idea in a talk or report

key issues
42 2.3

The main problems in a discussion or situation

key player
40 3.2

An important person who helps decide what happens in a group

key role
33 3.6

An important part of a process, event, or group

key ingredient
12 3.5

The most important part of something, often in a recipe or plan

off-key
12 4.5

A voice or instrument that sounds in the wrong pitch

key figure
12 3.8

An important person who plays the main role in a group or event

key lime
  • US
11 3.0

A small round yellow-green lime with a very tart taste used in desserts

key ring
6 1.0

A small metal ring that holds keys together

key evidence
5 3.7

Important proof that helps decide a legal case or argument

key word
4 3.5

An important word used to find a text in a search

master key
4 3.4

A key that opens many different locks in a building

minor key
2 5.9

A set of notes that sounds sad or serious

ignition key
2 2.3

A metal key used to start a car engine

shift key
1 2.7

A key on a keyboard that makes letters capital and types other characters

key fob
1 3.8

A small electronic device on a key ring that opens doors or starts a car

key word
  • Specialized
1 6.2

A word that unlocks a secret message

church key
  • Archaic
1 8.7

A small metal tool for making holes to open cans

command key
  • Specialized
1 3.6

A key on Apple keyboards that you press with other keys to use shortcuts

backspace key
1 2.6

A key on a keyboard that deletes the letter or number before the cursor

Florida key
  • US
1 4.7

A small low island of coral or limestone off the southern coast of Florida

key ring
  • Specialized
1 4.1

A secure place on a computer that stores passwords and secret codes for apps and the system

major key
  • Specialized
1 4.9

A set of musical notes that sounds bright and happy

hex key
  • Specialized
1 4.2

A small L-shaped tool used to turn screws with a six-sided hole

return key
1 2.1

A key on a keyboard that moves the cursor to a new line or starts a new command

tab key
  • Specialized
1 2.3

A key on a keyboard that moves the cursor to the right to indent or align text

telegraph key
  • Archaic
1 7.7

A small lever device used to send messages as dots and dashes by making and breaking an electric circuit

skeleton key
1 6.7

A metal tool that opens many similar locks by having most teeth cut away

control key
  • Specialized
2.8

A key on a computer keyboard that you press with other keys to do special actions

Allen key
  • UK
4.7

A small L-shaped metal tool used to turn bolts and screws with six-sided holes

ash-key
  • Specialized
9.9

A seed with a thin wing from an ash tree that the wind carries

key fob
3.6

A small thing on a key ring that makes keys easier to find

key fruit
  • Specialized
9.3

A winged fruit from maple or ash trees with one seed that spins as it falls

key signature
  • Specialized
5.5

A set of sharps or flats at the start of written music showing its key

key signature
  • Specialized
8.1

A digital mark added to a public key to show who owns it

key staging post
6.7

An important stop that helps people or goods move forward

key in
3.2

An act of typing information into a computer or device

key of the street
  • Slang
9.9

Useful knowledge needed to survive and fit into street life

key palm
  • US
7.2

A small fan-shaped tree that grows in southern Florida and Cuba

key pattern
6.7

A repeated decorative border of straight lines that turn in square corners, often on vases and buildings

master key
  • Specialized
4.2

A secret code that lets you open many protected files or services

Greek key
7.1

A repeating decorative border made from one continuous line that forms square corners

home key
  • Specialized
6.8

The main set of notes a piece of music returns to

Inbus key
  • Specialized
9.0

A small metal tool with a six-sided end for turning screws with a matching hole

nut key
  • Jargon
8.9

A small tool climbers use to pull metal pieces from cracks in rock

screw key
  • Specialized
5.5

A small tool that fits into a screw head to turn it

tonic key
  • Specialized
8.1

The main note and scale that a piece of music returns to

skeleton key
  • Specialized
7.5

A secret password that lets someone get into many accounts or systems

Unbrako key
  • Specialized
7.4

A small metal tool with a six-sided tip that turns screws with a six-sided hole in the head

watch key
  • Archaic
9.0

A small metal key with a square hole used to wind old pocket devices that tell time

Surface Forms

key infinitive
keyed past
keyed past participle
keying present participle
keys third person singular

Etymology

To key a plant means to use a guide called a 'key' to identify it, so the verb comes from the noun for a tool that helps you find the answer.