keyboard

American  

[kee-bawrd] / ˈkiˌbɔrd /

noun

• keyboards
  plural

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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verb (used with or without object)

• keyboards,
  present (3rd person singular)
• keyboarded,
  past participle,  past
• keyboarding
  present participle

1. 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.

2. to set (text) in type, using a machine that is operated by a keyboard.

keyboard British  

/ ˈkiːˌbɔːd /

noun

1. 1. a complete set of keys, usually hand-operated, as on a piano, organ, typewriter, or typesetting machine

   2. ( as modifier )

      a keyboard instrument

2. (often plural) a musical instrument, esp an electronic one, played by means of a keyboard

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verb

1. to set (a text, etc) in type, onto magnetic tape, or into some other medium, by using a keyboard machine

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• keyboarder
  noun
• keyboardist
  noun
• rekeyboard
  verb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• keyboards
  plural

Participles

• keyboarding
  present
• keyboarded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• keyboard
  simple
• keyboards
  simple
• have keyboarded
  perfect
• has keyboarded
  perfect
• am keyboarding
  progressive
• are keyboarding
  progressive
• is keyboarding
  progressive
• have been keyboarding
  perfect progressive
• has been keyboarding
  perfect progressive

Past

• keyboarded
  simple
• had keyboarded
  perfect
• was keyboarding
  progressive
• were keyboarding
  progressive
• had been keyboarding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will keyboard
  simple
• will have keyboarded
  perfect
• will be keyboarding
  progressive
• will have been keyboarding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of keyboard

First recorded in 1810–20; key ¹ + board

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

keyboard keyboards keyboarded keyboarding

A melodica is a handheld instrument played by blowing air into a reed, which is attached to a keyboard.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Fenton set Hopkins up with a keyboard loaded with samples of every instrument, and an internal switch was flipped: now the actor could compose for orchestra.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

"Our keyboard player spotted the smoke first and shouted at me to run," Athipat later recalled, speaking to reporters.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

The young woman at the keyboard wrote about two of them: One was a 48-year-old mother working for Xinhua.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

I sling my stuff onto the backseat, being careful with the keyboard.

From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper

The duo studied dusty LPs from Mexico and Colombia and employed a panoply of vintage keyboards to re-create the ghostly sounds of a Latin America that ceased to exist decades ago.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

The sultry “Hard Times” combines a slow cha-cha-cha rhythm with strings, horns, electric keyboards and a reverb-heavy bass.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026

The breakthrough could help reduce the spread of disease from frequently touched items like smartphones, keyboards, and hospital equipment.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2026

They were huddled, with several other members of the band, in a small studio in Khartoum, surrounded by electric guitars, keyboards, drums and saxophones, writing lyrics and recording new music.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

The library is filled with hushed sounds—clacking keyboards, turning pages, whispers.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

And by scrambled, I mean they waited ten months to replace the touchscreen with the keyboarded Q10.

From Forbes ● Nov. 7, 2013

Besides, I use the very tedious process of keyboarded voice modulation when I speak Utmano.

From Nature ● Feb. 1, 2012

Teaching of cursive writing returns after falling to the wayside amid revised learning standards and emphasis on keyboarding.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2024

The program teaches eight different courses, including basic keyboarding skills, Microsoft Office, iPhone with VoiceOver/Siri, and refreshable braille displays.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 22, 2022

Those of us who took typing rather than keyboarding have had to unlearn a habit deeply entrenched.

From Fox News ● Apr. 30, 2020

But church elders reined in Antes when he tried to add keyboarding instruments, called claviers, to his product line, according to a passage in the 1762 minutes of “Bethlehem Elder Conference” that Shatto cited.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 3, 2018

James knew from keyboarding class that the sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” used every letter in the alphabet, so they made that their cipher key.

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Related Words

• console
• manual
• piano