JISUPOSTEnglish
ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Key

/kiː/ · noun

Meaning

(countable) An object designed to open and close a lock..

Definitions by Sense

  1. (countable) An object designed to open and close a lock.
  2. An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as a shaft and a wheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relative orientation.
  3. A crucial step or requirement.
  4. A small guide explaining symbols or terminology, especially the legend on a map or chart.
  5. A guide to the correct answers of a worksheet or test.
  6. (computing) One of several small, usually square buttons on a typewriter or computer keyboard, mostly corresponding to text characters.
  7. In musical instruments, one of the valve levers used to select notes, such as a lever opening a hole on a woodwind.
  8. In instruments with a keyboard such as an organ or piano, one of the levers, or especially the exposed front end of it, which are depressed to cause a particular sound or note to be produced.

Example Sentences

We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.
The key to solving this problem is persistence.
the key to winning a game
Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true key of books.
who keeps the keys of all the creeds
The PEOPLE'S DAILY today front pages a news item in column one in the experience of Yuhsi County in Yunnan which "mastered the law of agricultural field management, and found the key to increasing autumn grain production."
The key says that A stands for the accounting department.
Some students cheated by using the answer key.

Synonyms for key

kaysignificantcardinalfundamentalimportantoperativeidentifydescribeprimaldistinguishnametonalityof importcaywinderkilokilogramkey outcentraldiscoverflorida keys

Antonyms for key

atonalityatonalism

Related Words

winderkilokilogramcentralkgdiscoveroperativedescribeidentifynamesignificantfundamentalprimalcardinalimportantdistinguishtonalitycayflorida keyskey out

Word Forms

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does key mean?

Key means (countable) An object designed to open and close a lock..

What is a synonym for key?

Common synonyms include kay, significant, cardinal, fundamental.

What is the opposite of key?

Possible antonyms include atonality, atonalism.

How do you use key in a sentence?

We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.