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Key   /ki/   Listen
Key

adjective
1.
Serving as an essential component.  Synonyms: cardinal, central, fundamental, primal.  "The central cause of the problem" , "An example that was fundamental to the argument" , "Computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure"
noun
1.
Metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated.
2.
Something crucial for explaining.
3.
Pitch of the voice.
4.
Any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music.  Synonym: tonality.
5.
A kilogram of a narcotic drug.
6.
A winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple.  Synonyms: key fruit, samara.
7.
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 'The Star-Spangled Banner' (1779-1843).  Synonym: Francis Scott Key.
8.
A coral reef off the southern coast of Florida.  Synonyms: cay, Florida key.
9.
(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.  Synonym: paint.  "He dominates play in the paint"
10.
A list of answers to a test.
11.
A list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations.
12.
A generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access.
13.
Mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock).  Synonym: winder.
14.
The central building block at the top of an arch or vault.  Synonyms: headstone, keystone.
15.
A lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed.
verb
(past & past part. keved; pres. part. keying)
1.
Identify as in botany or biology, for example.  Synonyms: describe, discover, distinguish, identify, key out, name.
2.
Provide with a key.
3.
Vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key.
4.
Regulate the musical pitch of.
5.
Harmonize with or adjust to.



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key stroke
Key West
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Florida key
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
Greek key
home key
ignition key
keyboard
latchkey
low-key
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off-key
on-key
passkey
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screw key
shift key
skeleton key
tab key
telegraph key
tonic key
watch key


WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University


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"Key" Quotes from Famous Books



... can be either greater nor less than the love of God. Let this love faint or grow cold, there is at once a loss of holiness, even though it retain all its external gear. This is a cardinal truth; it is a key which will solve many a puzzle. It will explain why fanatics and similar oddities are not Saints, though secular history sometimes honors them ...
— For Greater Things: The story of Saint Stanislaus Kostka • William T. Kane, S.J.
... of my balmy slumbers, by a sudden, stormy assault upon my door, and an imperative order to "Get up!"—wherefore I requested one of the intelligent porters of the Lick House to call at my palatial apartments, and murmur gently through the key-hole the magic ...
— The Wit and Humor of America, Volume X (of X) • Various
... bands of white (top, double width) and red with a three-towered red castle in the center of the white band; hanging from the castle gate is a gold key ...
— The 2007 CIA World Factbook • United States
... was built on this spot in 1735, but the key-stone not having been properly secured, it fell down in 1741, by which fifty persons were killed. The present bridge was finished in 1774, by Don Joseph Martin Aldeheula, a celebrated architect of Malaga; and ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. XX. No. 557., Saturday, July 14, 1832 • Various
... fasten a nail on the string. When it is undrawn the door bar is horizontal and the door consequently barred. Then push the nail in the gimlet hole so that only the head appears on the outside and no one not in the secret will ever suppose that the innocent-appearing nail is the key to unfasten the door. When you wish to open the door from the outside, pluck out the nail, pull the ...
— Shelters, Shacks and Shanties • D.C. Beard


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