keyboard
Americannoun
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the row or set of keys on a piano, organ, or the like.
I was playing piano before my feet could reach the pedals or my fingers could cover a chord on the keyboard.
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a set of keys, usually arranged in tiers, for operating a typewriter, computer, cash register, or the like, or a digital representation of the same on a touchscreen used to type on a device such as a smartphone or tablet.
I spilled coffee on my keyboard, and now the return key sticks so my documents are full of extra line breaks.
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any of various musical instruments played by means of a pianolike keyboard, as a piano, electric piano, or organ.
You basically need four people to start a rock band—someone on lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and keyboard.
verb (used with or without object)
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Also key in to enter (data) into a computer by means of a keyboard.
If you can get changes keyboarded by Monday, we should still be able to make the project deadline.
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to set (text) in type, using a machine that is operated by a keyboard.
noun
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a complete set of keys, usually hand-operated, as on a piano, organ, typewriter, or typesetting machine
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( as modifier )
a keyboard instrument
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(often plural) a musical instrument, esp an electronic one, played by means of a keyboard
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has keyboardedperfect 3rd person singular
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have keyboardedperfect
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are keyboardingprogressive
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am keyboardingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been keyboardingperfect progressive
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has been keyboardingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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keyboardingparticiple
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is keyboardingprogressive 3rd person singular
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keyboardssingular 3rd person
Past
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had keyboardedperfect
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was keyboardingprogressive singular
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were keyboardingprogressive plural
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keyboardedsimple
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had been keyboardingperfect progressive
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keyboardedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of keyboard
Explanation
What do pianos and computers have in common? They both have keyboards! A computer keyboard has numbers and letters, but a piano keyboard has musical notes. The keyboard is the part that you press with your fingers. Besides the rockin’ keyboard of a synthesizer, piano, or organ, there is also the computer keyboard. This keyboard is used for typing, with the earliest examples being the keyboards on typewriters. Occasionally, the word keyboard is used as a verb, meaning "to type on keyboard." It’s also, literally, a board with little hooks to hang the other kind of keys on. The musical instrument meaning came first, around 1819.
Vocabulary lists containing keyboard
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Music - Introductory
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Music - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Before becoming a composer, Rahman spent several years as a keyboard player in Ilaiyaraaja's orchestra.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
The 27-year-old from Ware in Hertfordshire was trying to save a virtual empire from the brink of destruction - using a keyboard and mouse.
From BBC • Jun. 5, 2026
The singer also made good use out of her space bedrooms, with one utilized as a music room, complete with a funky patterned couch, a keyboard, and a drum kit.
From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026
I think that’s why so many “Stranger Things” actors have musical projects: You can’t film anything else but you can sit in your house with your keyboard.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
If you have trouble keeping track of the notes, use a piano keyboard, a written chromatic scale, or the chromatic fingerings for your instrument to count half steps.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
