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keystroke

American

[kee-strohk] / ˈkiˌstroʊk /

noun

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

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of keystroke

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

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.

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

Each keystroke, each carriage return, makes Helmuth hate Hitler and his war all the more.

From "The Boy Who Dared" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023