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key

key

1.0
A small metal object used to open or close a lock
  • noun
  • /ki/
translation icon : llave
  • She forgot her key and couldn't get into the house.
  • turn the key
  • open with a key
  • lock and key

So I had the keys to the pool.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Books were kept under lock and key, sometimes chained to shelves.

    Academic text (2015)
  • So I just walked out without my keys and I'm now locked out.

  • I just need to find the key to the lock.

  • Give me my key, please.

  • The door of the room was locked, and he took his key out and opened it.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Sidney, do you still keep your key under the mat?

  • And then I have my little key for my PO Box.

  • Her father had another key made to the archive room and gave it to her solemnly.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Here are your keys.

  • "Nope," Richard says and displays the car keys he lifted from Jeff's pocket.

    Fiction book (1990)

Idioms

228 2.8

The main thing that makes something succeed or work

Kept in a locked place so people cannot take it

12 8.8

Put someone in prison for life with no hope of release

Put someone in prison and never let them out

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

An important thing or action that helps deal with a problem

Put someone in prison and never let them leave

Avoid extremes and do things in a balanced way

Doing something at the right moment is important for success

Compounds

43 3.1

A main idea in a talk or report

42 2.3

The main problems in a discussion or situation

40 3.2

An important person who helps decide what happens in a group

33 3.6

An important part of a process, event, or group

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

12 4.5

A voice or instrument that sounds in the wrong pitch

12 3.8

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

11 3.0

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

6 1.0

A small metal ring that holds keys together

5 3.7

Important proof that helps decide a legal case or argument

4 3.5

An important word used to find a text in a search

4 3.4

A key that opens many different locks in a building

2 5.9

A set of notes that sounds sad or serious

2 2.3

A metal key used to start a car engine

1 2.7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An important stop that helps people or goods move forward

3.2

An act of typing information into a computer or device

9.9

Useful knowledge needed to survive and fit into street life

7.2

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

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

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

How Universal

skeleton key
  • Specialized
7.5
passkey
2 6.0
master key
4 3.4
key
1.0

Surface Forms

key singular
keys plural

Etymology

Key comes from an old English word cæg for the small metal tool used to open locks, so a key is literally something that 'opens' a lock.