keystroke

American  

[kee-strohk] / ˈkiˌstroʊk /

noun

1. one stroke of any key on a machine operated by a keyboard, as a typewriter, computer terminal, or Linotype.

   I can do 3000 keystrokes an hour.

---

keystroke British  

/ ˈkiːˌstrəʊk /

noun

1. a single operation of the mechanism of a typewriter or keyboard-operated typesetting machine by the action of a key

---

Etymology

Origin of keystroke

First recorded in 1905–10; key ¹ + stroke ¹

Explanation

A keystroke is the tap of a letter, number, symbol, or command on a computer keyboard. It takes ten keystrokes to type the word vocabulary. The noun keystroke wasn't common until after the invention of computers, although you can use it when you talk about pressing a key on a typewriter as well. Online stores have made it dangerously easy to buy things, sometimes with only a few keystrokes. The word comes from the sense of stroke that's defined as "act of striking."

Example Sentences

Amazon caught North Korean IT worker by tracing keystroke data.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 22, 2025

It looks cheeky, if not aggressive, for management to increase a year’s earnings by billions of dollars with a keystroke, simply by changing an accounting estimate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 8, 2025

With a keystroke, he switched to infrared vision to find the man’s heat profile through the brush to make sure he still had him.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 15, 2025

Maybe what doesn’t kill a keystroke makes it stronger.

From Salon • Jun. 11, 2025

Enigma shifts to a new one with every keystroke.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield