something that affords a means of access: the key to happiness.
something that secures or controls entrance to a place: Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.
something that affords a means of clarifying a problem.
a book, pamphlet, or other text containing the solutions or translations of material given elsewhere, as testing exercises.
a systematic explanation of abbreviations, symbols, etc., used in a dictionary, map, etc.: pronunciation key.Compare legend(def 4).
the system, method, pattern, etc., used to decode or decipher a cryptogram, as a code book, machine setting, or keyword.
one of a set of marked parts, designated areas, or levers pressed in operating a typewriter, computer terminal, calculator, etc.
a manually operated lever for opening and closing an electric circuit, used to produce signals in telegraphy.
Music.
(in a keyboard instrument) one of the levers that when depressed by the performer sets in motion the playing mechanism.
(on a woodwind instrument) a metal lever that opens and closes a vent.
the relationship perceived between all tones in a given unit of music and a single tone or a keynote; tonality.
the principal tonality of a composition: a symphony in the key of C minor.
the keynote or tonic of a scale.
tone or pitch, as of voice: to speak in a high key.
mood or characteristic style, as of expression or thought: He writes in a melancholy key.
degree of intensity, as of feeling or action.
a pin, bolt, wedge, or other piece inserted in a hole or space to lock or hold parts of a mechanism or structure together; a cotter.
a small piece of steel fitting into matching slots of a hub of a wheel or the like and the shaft on which the wheel is mounted so that torque is transmitted from one to the other.
a contrivance for grasping and turning a bolt, nut, etc.
Computers. a field or group of characters within a record that identifies the record, establishing its position among sorted records, and/or provides information about its contents.
(in a series of advertisements or announcements soliciting replies) a unique code inserted for each medium used, to determine the relative effectiveness of the media.
Electricity.
a device for opening and closing electrical contacts.
a hand-operated switching device ordinarily formed of concealed spring contacts with an exposed handle or push button, capable of switching one or more parts of a circuit.
Biology. a systematic tabular classification of the significant characteristics of the members of a group of organisms to facilitate identification and comparison.
Masonry. a keystone.
Architecture. (in a ribbed vault) a stone, as a boss, at the intersection of two or more ribs.
Masonry, Carpentry. a wedge, as for tightening a joint or splitting a stone or timber.
Carpentry. a small piece of wood set into a timber across the grain to prevent warping.
Building Trades. any grooving or roughness applied to a surface to improve its bond with another surface.
Photography. the dominant tonal value of a picture, a high-key picture having light tonal values and minimal contrast and a low-key picture being generally dark with minimal contrast.
Painting. the tonal value and intensity of a color or range of colors: Rembrandt's colors are characterized by their low key.
Botany. a samara.
(initial capital letter)a member of the House of Keys.
keys,spiritual authority.
adjective
chief; major; important; essential; fundamental; pivotal: a key person in the company; key industries.
verb (used with object),keyed,key·ing.
to regulate or adjust (actions, thoughts, speech, etc.) to a particular state or activity; bring into conformity: to key one's speech to the intellectual level of the audience.
Music. to regulate the key or pitch of.
Painting.
to paint (a picture) in a given key.
to adjust the colors in (a painting) to a particular hue: He keyed the painting to brown.
to fasten, secure, or adjust with a key, wedge, or the like, as parts of a mechanism.
to provide with a key.
(in the layout of newspapers, magazines, etc.) to identify, through signs or symbols, the positions of illustrations or pieces of copy in a dummy.
to lock with or as if with a key.
Masonry. to provide (an arch or vault) with a keystone.
a metal instrument, usually of a specifically contoured shape, that is made to fit a lock and, when rotated, operates the lock's mechanism
any instrument that is rotated to operate a valve, clock winding mechanism, etc
a small metal peg or wedge inserted into keyways
any of a set of levers operating a typewriter, computer, etc
any of the visible parts of the lever mechanism of a musical keyboard instrument that when depressed set in motion the action that causes the instrument to sound
Also called: tonalityany of the 24 major and minor diatonic scales considered as a corpus of notes upon which a piece of music draws for its tonal framework
the main tonal centre in an extended compositiona symphony in the key of F major
"metal piece that works a lock," from Old English cæg "key," of unknown origin, with no certain cognates other than Old Frisian kei. Perhaps related to Middle Low German keie "lance, spear" on notion of "tool to cleave with," from Proto-Germanic *ki- "to cleaver, split" (cf. German Keil "wedge," Gothic us-kijans "come forth," said of seed sprouts, keinan "to germinate"). But Liberman writes, "The original meaning of *kaig-jo- was presumably '*pin with a twisted end.' Words with the root *kai- followed by a consonant meaning 'crooked, bent; twisted' are common only in the North Germanic languages." Modern pronunciation is a northern variant predominating from c.1700; earlier it was often spelled and pronounced kay.
Figurative sense of "that which serves to open or explain" was in Old English; meaning "that which holds together other parts" is from 1520s. As "answer to a test," it is from chess, short for key move, "first move in a solution to a set problem." Musical sense of "tone, note" is 15c., but modern sense of "scale" is 1580s, probably as a translation of Latin clavis or French clef (see clef; also cf. keynote). Extended c.1500 to "mechanism on a musical instrument." As a verb meaning "to scratch (a car's paint job) with a key" it is recorded by 1986.
n.2
"low island," 1690s, from Spanish cayo "shoal, reef," from Taino cayo "small island;" spelling influenced by Middle English key "wharf" (c.1300), from Old French kai "sand bank" (see quay).
The main or central note of a piece of music (or part of a piece of music). Each key has its own scale, beginning and ending on the note that defines the octave of the next scale. The key of C-major uses a scale that starts on C and uses only the white keys of the piano. In a piece composed in the key of C, the music is likely to end on the note C, and certain combinations of notes based on C will predominate.
