latchkey

[ lach-kee ]

noun

, plural latch·keys.

1. a key for releasing a latch or springlock, especially on an outer door.

latchkey

/ ˈlætʃˌkiː /

noun

1. a key for an outside door or gate, esp one that lifts a latch
2. 1. a supposed freedom from restrictions
   2. ( as modifier )

      a latchkey existence

Word History and Origins

Origin of latchkey¹

First recorded in 1815–25; latch + key ¹

Example Sentences

I spent middle school as a latchkey kid, riding two public buses to get home and once there, often ended up spending evenings alone and warming up a frozen TV dinner.

From Washington Post

The ensuing years of living a financially strapped life in a single-mother household, being a latchkey kid who came home and was kept company by snacks, solidified my relationship with food.

From Outside Online

They went upstairs without using the lift, and he let her and himself in with his latchkey.

From Project Gutenberg

Could it be possible that some thief had stolen the latchkey from Knight, and used it when Mrs. Ellsworth's house was robbed?

From Project Gutenberg

It made her feel less to blame for her carelessness in the matter of that latchkey.

From Project Gutenberg

Still worse was the remembrance of Mrs. Ellsworth's latchkey, the keeping of which had been accidental at first.

From Project Gutenberg

The central figure, wearing pince-nez and waving a latchkey, is formidable rather than repellent.

From Project Gutenberg