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单词 key
释义

keyn.1adj.

Brit. /kiː/, U.S. /ki/
Forms: Old English caeg, Old English cæg, Old English cæig, Old English cęge (Northumbrian), Old English kæge (Mercian), Old English kęgie (plural, rare), Old English–early Middle English cæge, late Old English cæige, late Old English cege, late Old English–1600s keie, early Middle English cæȝe, early Middle English ceyge, early Middle English kæie, early Middle English kaige, Middle English caiss (plural), Middle English kai, Middle English keiȝe, Middle English keyȝe, Middle English 1600s kees (plural), Middle English 1600s ky, Middle English–1500s cay, Middle English–1500s kaies (plural), Middle English–1500s kaye, Middle English–1500s kei, Middle English–1500s kye, Middle English–1600s keye, Middle English–1700s kay, Middle English– key, 1500s keaye, 1500s–1600s kaie, 1600s caies (plural), 1600s keay, 1600s keese (plural); Scottish pre-1700 ke, pre-1700 kea, pre-1700 keay, pre-1700 kei, pre-1700 keie, pre-1700 kyis (plural), pre-1700 1700s kie, pre-1700 1700s–1800s kye, pre-1700 1700s– key, pre-1700 1800s kee, 1800s keye, 1900s– keigh.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian kāi, kēi (West Frisian kaai); further etymology unknown (see note below).Form and pronunciation history. In Old English the word is inflected as a strong feminine (jō -stem) cǣg , and as a weak feminine (jōn -stem) cǣge ; a weak masculine by-form is implied by occasional examples of inflected cǣgan with masculine agreement. A strong masculine plural cǣgas is also once attested in Northumbrian. The stem vowel apparently shows i-mutation of early Old English long ā caused by the inflectional suffix, which perhaps followed immediately after the stem vowel. In that case, g in the Old English word would be the graphic representation of the semivowel of the suffix, preserved after a vowel (and the word perhaps shows the reflex of West Germanic doubled *jj ). Alternatively, g could represent a palatalized velar, later vocalized in Middle English. As the subsequent phonological development in English would be the same in either case (and similarly in Frisian), the question is not resolvable with certainty in the face of the disputed etymology. The normal southern Middle English development of this word showed a diphthong, which would normally give /keɪ/ in modern English. The diphthong is shown regularly in rhymes in Middle English verse, and can be found also in rhymes in early modern English; for instance key is rhymed with way several times even in late works by Dryden from the end of the 17th cent. The modern pronunciation of the word with /iː/ apparently reflects what was originally a northern form, probably the reflex of a form with intervocalic (as opposed to word-final) /j/, in which no diphthong was developed prior to loss of the semivowel, and which hence showed either Middle English long open or long close ē . Pronunciations with the reflex of Middle English long open ē are shown by some orthoepists from the mid 17th cent. Compare similarly lea n.2, and compare also discussion at quay n. See further E. J. Dobson Eng. Pronunc. 1500–1700 (ed. 2, 1968) II. §129, A. J. Aitken & C. Macafee Older Sc. Vowels (2002) §6.3.2. Specific sense developments. In biological use in sense A. 5e after post-classical Latin clavis, specific use (e.g. Linnaeus Systema Naturæ (ed. 6, 1748) 78) of classical Latin clāvis key (see clavis n.). With sense A. 10a compare post-classical Latin use of classical Latin clāvis to denote the keystone or boss at the intersection of the ribs in vaulting (from 12th cent. in British sources). In sense A. 11 apparently resulting from confusion of classical Latin clāvus tiller, rudder (see clavus n.) with clāvis key (see clavis n.). In musical use in sense A. 17a after corresponding use (in post-classical Latin, from the 12th cent.) of classical Latin clāvis (see clavis n.). Sense A. 17b seems to be an extension in English of sense A. 17a and is apparently not paralleled in Latin. Compare clef n.1 In sense A. 19a after corresponding use (in post-classical Latin) of classical Latin clāvis (from the 14th cent. or possibly the 13th cent. denoting the keys of a keyboard instrument); compare the use of classical Latin clāvis in the name of the clavichord (see clavichord n. and foreign-language forms cited at that entry); compare also Middle French, French clavier denoting the keyboard of a keyboard instrument (1564; compare clavier n.). With sense A. 19b compare French clef , Italian chiave , which both occur denoting the keys of a wind instrument (as well as in sense A. 14a and the sense ‘clef’: see clef n.1), but not the keys of a keyboard instrument. German Schlüssel ‘key’ is occasionally found denoting the keys of a keyboard instrument (beside more usual Taste ), but apparently only later than in English (18th cent.). Attempts to explain the further etymology. A summary of attempts to explain the further etymology is given by A. Liberman Analyt. Dict. Eng. Etymol. (2008) at cited word, together with a further hypothesis. Occurrence in place names. The word apparently also occurs early as a place-name element; however, its meaning is uncertain and disputed (compare discussion in Vocab. Eng. Place-names at cǣg). For place names such as Kaibal , Lancashire (a1210; now Cabus) a meaning ‘peg’ has been suggested (compare sense A. 12a), but it is now more commonly assumed that the place-name element denotes a particular shape of hill-spur. Compare the following attestations in Anglo-Saxon charter bounds (with reference respectively to Cassio, Hertfordshire, and Keyworth, Sussex):a1200 ( Bounds (Sawyer 136) in J. Crick Charters of St. Albans (2007) 114 Ðis sindon þa gemæra betwux Kæges ho [1086 Domesday Bk. Caissou] & Lange lege.a1300 ( Bounds (Sawyer 108) in S. E. Kelly Charters of Selsey (1998) 107 Suuæ norð to kæia weorðe.
A. n.1
I. An instrument designed to be inserted into a lock and turned.
1.
a. A (usually metal) instrument shaped to fit the wards or pins of a particular lock, so that it may be inserted into the keyhole and turned, in order to lock or unlock a door, chest, box, etc. Frequently with of, for, to.A key typically has one end specially shaped (as with notches or projections) to operate the lock, and the other end broad and flat so that is easy to hold between finger and thumb.door-, house, latch-, locker-, master, room, skeleton key, etc.: see the first element. See also lock and key at lock n.2 1c.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > key > key to the door
keyOE
opener1942
OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 78 Ða eode Basilius to ðam clyfan, ac se preost nolde undon þa duru mid cæge.
OE Ælfric Gloss. (St. John's Oxf.) 314 Clauis, cæg [c1225 Worcester keie].
OE tr. Gospel of Nicodemus (Cambr.) xii. §2. 171 Hig uninseglodon þæt loc and þa cægan and þa duru geopenigende [L. aperientes clauem et signa hostii].
lOE Laws of Cnut (Corpus Cambr. 383) ii. lxxvi. §1a. 362 Ðara cægan.., þæt is hire heddernes cæge & hyre cyste cæge.
c1300 St. Patrick's Purgatory (Laud) l. 14 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 200 Þe prior haueth þe keiȝe in warde.
c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) l. 3207 (MED) A..schette þe dore wiþ þe keie [rhyme veie (= fey)].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 17357 (MED) Þai sperd fast wit lok and kai [Gött. kay, Trin. Cambr. key], þe seles als-sua þai bar away.
1491–2 in H. J. F. Swayne Churchwardens' Accts. Sarum (1896) 40 j Key to the Organ dore & iij keyis to the quer dorys vijd.
1506–7 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 261 Payd for makyng of ij keyes for the tresory chest in the vestry, vi d.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Judges iii. 25 (For no man opened the perler dore) they toke the keye, and opened it.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. x. sig. I8v Either through gifts, or guile, or such like waies, Crept in by stouping low, or stealing of the kaies . View more context for this quotation
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iv. 137 The doore, that he had newly locked, and taken the key with him to the ship.
1697 E. Settle World in Moon iv. 34 I'll steal the Keys of the Window.
1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Sigismonda & Guiscardo in Fables 128 The Dame, who long in vain had kept the Key, Bold by Desire, explor'd the secret Way.
1772 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra II. lxviii. 342 A key was found in his room.
1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 103 The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groans.
1867 C. Dickens Let. 24 Jan. (1999) XI. 304 The enclosed key is the key of the drawers of my writing table at Gads. In the left hand top-drawer is a bunch of keys.
1905 H. R. Voth Trad. of Hopi xlix. 160 They locked up the house, hiding the wooden key of the wooden lock somewhere near he fireplace.
1970 K. Roos What did Hattie See? x. 92 You don't give a dame a key to your safe deposit box.
2005 J. Weiner Goodnight Nobody xxii. 193 Her husband stalked to the driver's side of the car and shoved the key into the lock.
b. A representation of a key, esp. as a heraldic device. Cf. cross keys n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > symbol (general) > Christian symbols or images > [noun] > papal keys
keyc1390
St. Peter's keys1568
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of domestic items > [noun]
keyc1390
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of domestic items > [noun] > cross-keys
cross keysa1563
key1874
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. vi. l. 13 (MED) He bar..Moni Cros on his cloke and keiȝes of Rome.
c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) l. 6957 The secounde povne..was callyd syght Which in his shelde..Bare y-grave a large key.
a1525 (c1448) R. Holland Bk. Howlat l. 345 in W. A. Craigie Asloan MS (1925) II. 105 Twa keyis our croce of siluer so cleir In a feild of asure flammit on fold.
1572 A. Golding tr. H. Bullinger Confut. Popes Bull f. 17 Thus much concerning the Keyes, Armes, and Cognisances of the Romane Bishops.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 301/2 He beareth Azure, a key double Bited in Fesse.
1718 A. Nisbet Ess. Armories vi. 82 They have adorned the Outer-sides of their Shields with Mitres, Crosiers, Keys, and pastoral Staves.
1765 ‘M. A. Porny’ Elements Heraldry 155 Gules, a Sword in Bend sinister Argent, pomeled and hilted Or, interposed between two Keys addorsed in Bend..the Arms of the Bishopric of Winchester.
1867 C. Boutell Eng. Heraldry 134 When represented in early blazon, Keys have always elegant forms.
1874 B. J. Lossing Pict. Hist. Civil War II. xv. 397 On the battle-ground was once a tavern, whose sign-board had the device of two keys crossed.
1911 R. K. Wood Honeymooning in Russia iv. 42 A grand Duchess honours a court chamberlain whose back bears an embroidered key.
1987 R. A. Chorzempa Design your own Coat of Arms 23 The two keys are symbolic of St. Peter, the first pope.
2. A similar instrument for operating a switch or other control which is in the form of a lock with a keyhole, esp. an ignition switch in a motor vehicle (cf. ignition key n. at ignition n. Compounds 2, car key n. at car n.1 Compounds 1b).Often a single vehicle key of this type works in the doors, storage compartments, etc., as well as in the ignition; cf. quot. 2005 at sense A. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > door or ignition key
key1915
ignition key1933
car key1939
1915 Pop. Mech. Dec. 922/2 If the key for the switch lock of an automobile is made of steel, it can be safely..kept in the car..by attaching it to a small permanent magnet, concealed under the false dash.
1935 J. Hargan Gloss. Prison Lang. 5 [A] coil arrangement which starts any car—without the aid of key.
1952 Ellery Queen's Myst. Mag. 29 31/2 There was a car parked in front of the entrance... The key was in the ignition switch.
1974 Pop. Sci. Mar. 34/1 Turn the special key, and the alarm station will deactivate or activate any standard burglar alarm attached to it.
1987 M. Richard in S. Ravenel New Stories from South (1988) 9 Our new-moon boat with the Chrysler inboard was gassed up with the key rusted in the ignition.
2006 G. Malkani Londonstani iv. 44 Ravi turned the key in the ignition.
II. Figurative and allusive uses.
3.
a. [With allusion to Matthew 16:19 (see quot. c1384).] Roman Catholic Church. The spiritual authority believed to have been transmitted from Christ to St Peter, and so to the Pope considered as his successor, as symbolized by the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Also in a wider sense: the power or authority of the Christian Church or its priests. Usually in plural. Cf. church key n. 1b, power of the keys n. at power n.1 Phrases 9.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > pope > [noun] > office of
keyOE
popedomlOE
apostailec1380
poperichea1387
thronec1390
papacya1393
papatea1393
see?a1400
popeheadc1410
popehoodc1410
pontificate?a1425
popeshipc1450
papality1483
pontificationa1500
pontificacy?1530
power of the keys1536
Apostolic seat1560
Catholic Seat1570
papalty1577
popedomship1588
oecumenacy1649
vice-godhead1659
chairship1660
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > priest > [noun] > dominion of priests > disciplinary power
keya1400
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxvi. 391 Nis seo cæig gylden..ne of nanum antimbre gesmiðod, ac is se anweald þe him Crist forgeaf, þæt nan man ne cymþ into Godes rice, buton se halga Petrus him geopenige þæt infær.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xvi. 19 Þe ic sylle heofona rices cægia [OE Lindisf. caegas, OE Rushw. kægen; c1200 Hatton kaigen; L. claves].
OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Corpus Cambr. 196) 23 Nov. 255 Þone Sanctus Petrus sylf gehalgode to papan and hym sealde þa ylcan myhte þe Dryhten Cryst hym sealde, þæt h[e] heofna rices cægan and helle geweald ahte.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xvi. 19 Thou art Petre... And to thee I shal ȝeue the keies of the kyngdam of heuenes.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 26150 He mai þe noþer lese ne bind, For-qui þat kay es giuen to nan Bot preist.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 3838 Þa cays er noght elles to se Bot playn power of his [sc. the Pope's] dignite.
c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 18 (MED) Cale þe clarge to ȝour counsel, þat beryn Cristis kay.
1554 D. Lindsay Dialog Experience & Courteour l. 4820 in Wks. (1931) I Those spiritual keis quhilkis Christ to Peter gaif.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccccxxxvij Whether Priestes onlye haue authoritye of the keyes.
1653 R. Baxter Christian Concord 43 They that distinguish between the Key of Order and the Key of Jurisdiction, do without question allow the former to the Presbyters.
a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo iv, in Wks. (1721) III. 131 Jesus to you the ghostly Keys commits, And those you here absolve, in Heav'n acquits.
1793 J. Barry Let. to President, Soc. for Encouragem. Arts 24 Those temporalities and mere mundane grandeur..with which the spiritual exercise of the keys could have had no connection.
1821 Protestant 24 Feb. 848 Christ himself hath the key of David. This prerogative he claimed for himself, after Peter was dead;..and he holds the key in his own hand still.
1870 M. J. Rhodes Visible Unity Catholic Church I. i. 55 It is not man, it is Christ Himself Who, in these His pastors, still holds the keys, and feeds and rules his flock.
1906 Dublin Rev. Apr. 277 Peter's spiritual keys are still in the hands of every English priest.
2004 R. K. Rittgers Reformation of Keys iii. 56 All Christians possessed the keys, all were equally able and obliged to preach the gospel of forgiveness to each other.
b. gen. A key used to symbolize power, control, or authority, esp. over a particular place; a key as a symbol of office; a position of power or authority.See also Gold Key n. at gold n.1 and adj. Compounds 1e, cove and key at cove n.1 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > [noun] > symbol of control
keyOE
society > authority > office > symbol of office or authority > [noun] > specific
keyOE
sword?c1475
the seals?a1500
pillara1529
post1598
umbrella1653
akakia1731
OE tr. Vindicta Salvatoris (Cambr. Univ. Libr.) in J. E. Cross Two Old Eng. Apocrypha (1996) 269 Ac uton ure heafdo ahyldan and þysse ceastre cægean [L. claues istius ciuitatis] þysum Romaniscan folce agyfan.
c1200 (?OE) Grave (1890) l. 14 Ðær þu bist feste bidytt and dæð hefð þa cæȝe.
c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. F) l. 16 Noldest þu mid muþe bidden me none milts[unge]. Nu þu ert adumbed and deaþ haueþ þeo keiȝe.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 3848 Þe conseil of france..ȝolde him vp al þat lond & þe keyen [a1400 Trin. Cambr. keyȝen, ?a1425 Digby keyes] of parys.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. l. 2661 His lose tunge..berth of his honour the keie.
c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 2298 Myn ȝonge doughter..That beryth the keye of al myn hertes lyf.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) l. 2147 (MED) Þai vnȝarked him þe ȝatis & ȝald him þe keys [a1500 Trin. Dubl. kees].
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Div The kays hang not all by one mans girdill.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxij All the townes in Acquitayne (except Bayon) deliuered their keyes, and became vassals.
1642 G. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 299 These Lords, Holland and Essex,..accordingly delivered their key and staff respectively to the Lord Falkland.
1676 C. Hatton in E. M. Thompson Corr. Family of Hatton (1878) I. 138 His office of Chamberlaine is here incompatible wth his other character. It is generally beleeved he will lose his Key.
1702 D. Jones Hist. France I. vii. viii. 443 Mortara capitulated, and Pavia sent them her Keys.
1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc vi. 168 Of every captured town the keys Restore to Charles.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Leila ii. i. 65 That within two weeks of this date thou bringest me..the keys of the city.
1847 A. Swanwick tr. F. Schiller Maid of Orleans i. i, in Wks. III. 341 Cities, ancient as the monarchy, Deliver to the foe the rusty keys.
1923 E. Gepp Essex Dial. Dict. (ed. 2) 68 ‘She's got the key’, said of a wife, means ‘she's the master’.
1990 A. Coleman tr. H. Padilla Self-portrait of Other xvii. 176 One of these days there will be no one left on the island, only me left to hand over the key of the city to a counterrevolutionary like Señor Rolando Masferrer.
c. A key (real or notional) used to symbolize freedom of access to a particular place and presented ceremonially as a formal honour or mark of respect by a representative of a city, organization, etc. Frequently in keys to the city. Cf. freedom n. 14b.
ΚΠ
1669 London Gaz. 14 Oct. 1/1 Upon his entry, His Majesties Lieu. Governour attended him, and as a mark of highest Honour, presented him with the Keys of the City.
1706 Post Man & Hist. Acct. 24 Oct. 1/1 That Prince..was complimented by the Magistrates.., who presented him with the Keys of the City in a Gold Bason.
1818 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 352/2 The Lord Provost and Magistrates.., according to custom,..presented to his Grace the ancient silver keys of the city, in the usual form.
1922 Rotarian May 251/1 The mayor, city commissioners.., and women's clubs paraded in honor of the contest and presented to the judges a three-foot bronze key to the city.
1972 Billboard 29 July (caption) 35 Motown's Jackson 5 are presented the ‘Key to New York City’ by Deputy Mayor Ed Hamilton..during their recent Madison Square Garden appearance.
2009 D. O'Briain Tickling Eng. iv. 39 Having been made a Freeman of Newcastle and having received the Keys to the City in a formal ceremony, he turned to the crowd..and shouted, ‘Howay, the lads.’
4.
a. Something likened metaphorically to a key in having the power to open or close something else; a thing which provides access or opportunity; a means to a desired objective.The interpretation of quot. OE1 is not certain; perhaps it should be taken as showing sense A. 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > [noun] > (a) means
keyOE
toolc1000
wherewithc1230
ministerc1380
meanc1390
instrumenta1425
organ?a1425
mesne1447
moyen1449
handlec1450
hackneya1500
receipta1500
operative1526
ingine1531
appliance1555
agent1579
matter1580
mids1581
wedge1581
wherewithal1583
shoeing-horn1587
engine1589
instrumental1598
Roaring Meg1598
procurement1601
organy1605
vehicle1615
vehiculuma1617
executioner1646
facility1652
operatory1660
instrumentality1663
expedient1665
agency1684
bladea1713
mechanic1924
mechanism1924
OE Exodus 525 Gif onlucan wile lifes wealhstod.., ginfæsten god gastes cægon.
OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Corpus Cambr. 196) 29 June 134 Hig [sc. Peter and Paul] habbað swa mycele myhte þæt hig magon þone heofon belucan þam ðe hig wyllað.., forþam ðe hyra tungan syndon heofena rices cægan.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 7 (MED) Unhersumnesse..is kæie of alle oðre sennes; non senne ne mai bien idon bute ðurh unhersumnesse.
1450 in 3rd Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1872) App. 280 in Parl. Papers (C. 673) XXXIII. 337 And as for Maunce and Mayne, alle lordes and comons in Englonds knew well that it was the keye of well faire of alle the kynge's obeisaunces in Fraunce.
c1450 in Medium Ævum (1981) 50 248 Þe comaundementis þat God bede Þey bene þe lokkes of heuene ȝate, Seuene werkys of mercy & þe crede Þe keyes þat schal late vs inne þeratte.
1582 C. Carlile Disc. conc. Two Diuine Positions f. 2v Faith is the keye, that openeth the locke vnto euerlasting life.
1596 M. Drayton Tragicall Legend Robert Duke of Normandy sig. D7 His victorious hand becomes the kay To let you in to famous victories.
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iv. xxi. 352 Love, the key of hearts, will open the closest coffers.
1656 N. Hardy First Epist. John: 1st Pt. (i. 3) vii. 104 Faith is the key which opens the door, and admits us into the presence-chamber of the King of Glory.
1739 Burkitt's Expos. Notes N.T. (ed. 11) Matt. vii. 11 Prayer is the Key that opens both his Heart and Hand.
1787 Walker's Hibernian Mag. Feb. 85/2 ‘I command a key to love?’ ‘Yes, fair one.—How many captives have you not locked in your affections?’
1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 58 A supply of cigars, those keys to Spanish hearts.
1881 Sunday School Teacher 7 408 Her example and childish longings have proved the key to my soul.
1919 R. Lynd Ireland a Nation (1920) ix. 113 Federalism, I fear, is regarded by the majority of its supporters..not as a key to open the door to Irish liberty, but as a key to lock the door on Irish liberty.
1978 W. C. Curry tr. F. Novak Surg. Gynecol. Techniques 334/1 Division of the connective tissue on the midline between the urethra and the rectum is the key which opens the way to the correct plane.
2009 B. J. Berg Sexism in Amer. xviii. 239 Consumption, more than romance, is the newly minted key to an adolescent girl's heart.
b. A place or position with strategic advantages which give control over or access to a territory, sea, etc. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, passage, or means of access to a place > [noun] > through hills or difficult ground > place controlling
keyc1450
key point1829
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) i. l. 71 This kyng ryght as for a keye Of all hys kyngdam set hys tovn þer; Ho com to surre, mot come þat weye; There may no shyp this cours for-bere.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. cliij Which towne was the kay and passage ouer the ryuer of Soame, from Fraunce to Normandy.
1581 R. Sempill Complaint vpon Fortoun (single sheet) Marke Iames of Dowglas present Erle of Morton,..Danter of theuis..Key of this Countre that kepit vs from skaith.
a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlviii. 115 For these tua Castells ar the only kees Of all Turkie, and do divide the sees.
1684 London Gaz. No. 1954/3 A very Important place, which is the Key of Sclavonia.
1735 G. Berkeley Querist §266 Whether the sea-ports of Galway, Limerick, Cork, and Waterford are not to be looked on as keys of this kingdom?
1748 T. Dunckerley Let. 1 June in Freemason's Mag. (1794) Aug. 117 This place is the key to the Mediterranean.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) II. xv. 291 He had now the key of Northern Greece in his hands.
1869 T. H. Huxley in Sci. Opin. 5 May 506/1 And yet this is the key of the whole position.
1908 S. G. Fisher Struggle Amer. Independence II. lxxxvii. 338 But it was Charleston, and not Virginia, that was the military key to the South.
2007 R. Moore & M. Lennon Wars of Green Berets v. 228 Iraq is different. It's the key to the Middle East and it has oil!
c. golden (also silver) key and variants: money as a means of acquiring something that one needs or desires; spec. a bribe or inducement.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > illegal payment or exaction > [noun] > bribe
gift1382
handy-dandyc1390
pricec1400
bud1436
bribe?a1439
golden (also silver) keyc1450
fee1549
golden shower1589
oil of angels1592
sugar-plum1608
bribera1616
palm oil1625
greasinga1661
sop1665
sweetbreada1670
vail1687
douceur1739
sweetener1741
bonus1759
buckshee1773
smear-gelt1785
grease1823
boodle?1856
soap1860
ice1887
palm-grease1897
poultice1902
fix1929
dropsy1930
pay-off1930
drop1931
oil1935
squeeze-pidgin1946
sling1948
bung1958
back-hander1960
c1450 (?a1422) J. Lydgate Life Our Lady (Durh.) (1961) vi. l. 89 Þouȝ þat sche bar of golde no keye, To by a lombe.
1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. f. 215v No dore so stronge, but a golden keye myghte open his locke, nor fortresse of such strength but he wolde yelde to thoffer of monye.
1580 T. Churchyard Warning for Wise sig. C.viv The siluer key now opens euery gate.
1613 F. Mason Of Consecration Bishops i. v. 28 A Key of gold can open Saint Peters locke.
1679 tr. Trag. Hist. Jetzer 2 The Silver Key will open the strongest Gates of the strictest Monastery.
1705 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft 54 Will Council open their Mouths without a Golden Key?
1798 W. Hutton Life 41 I was given to understand that the door, contrary to other doors, would not open with a silver key.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 102 Every door is barr'd with gold, and opens but to golden keys.
1845 R. Ford Handbk. Travellers Spain II. xi. 737/2 There are also three rooms not shown to the public, which should be inspected: a silver key unlocks the doors.
1901 Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 396/2 Men who required the door to favour, and even to justice, to be opened with a golden key.
1956 J. Brodrick St. Ignatius Loyola v. 140 It is most extraordinary..this power of his by the mere appeal of his eyes to open doors barred to others unless they brought a key of gold.
2001 D. M. Gershten Kissing Virgin's Mouth (2002) 112 A key of gold can open any door, they say.
5.
a. A means of understanding something unknown, mysterious, or obscure; a solution or explanation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > [noun]
keyeOE
undoinga1330
expositiona1340
declarationc1374
declaringc1374
clearingc1380
expoundingc1380
explanationa1382
interpretation1382
exploitingc1390
unfolding1483
explicating1531
explication1537
clearance?1548
elucidation1570
explaining1576
manifestation1576
untwining1577
illustration1581
untwisting1591
eviscerating1599
unclouding1601
enodation1603
opening1611
dilucidation1615
unsnarling1640
declarement1646
enucleation1650
illumination1656
dilucidatinga1660
luciferousness1665
clarifying1677
unravelling1713
disentanglement1751
exegesis1770
disambiguation1827
evisceration1831
keyword1848
clarificationa1866
exponence1880
exponency1880
straightening1900
demystification1964
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [noun] > solution, explanation > that which provides
keyeOE
explanation?a1475
master key1577
explanatory1650
cluea1665
clew1725
lead1851
solvent1865
accounting1885
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > resolving of problem, solution > [noun] > instance of
keyeOE
solutionc1384
resolutiona1542
salvea1628
solvent1865
eOE Metrical Dialogue of Solomon & Saturn (Corpus Cambr. 422) ii. 184 Ðeah ðe S[atu]rnus sumra hæfde, bald breosttoga, boca c [æ] g [a] , [le]ornenga locan.
OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 2 Stæfcræft is seo cæg, ðe ðæra boca andgit unlicð.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) xi. 52 Wa eow ægleawum forþam þe ge ætbrudun þæs ingehydes cæge [L. clavem scientiae].
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke xi. 52 Woo to ȝou, wyse men of lawe, for ȝe han take awey the keye of kunnynge.
?c1422 T. Hoccleve Ars Sciendi Mori l. 12 in Minor Poems (1970) i. 178 Thow of al science berst the keye.
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. ii. xiii. f. 88v Let this therefore be vnto vs the keye of right vnderstandyng.
1597 A. Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 397 Every currage keipis the keyis, of knawledge be his belt.
1607 B. Jonson Volpone Ep. Ded. sig. ¶2v Application, is now, growne a Trade with many; and there are, that professe to haue a Key for the deciphering of euery thing. View more context for this quotation
1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. iv. 158 Get the Language (in part) without which key thou shalt unlock little of moment.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 435. ¶6 I have one general Key to the Behaviour of the Fair Sex.
1788 F. Burney Diary 21 July (1842) IV. 184 I felt his meaning, though I had no key to it.
1835 W. G. Clark Let. Nov. in Lit. Remains (1844) 80 I overheard a pair of them conversing not long ago in Broadway, and having previously acquired the key to their dialect, I understood it perfectly.
1883 S. C. Hall Retrospect Long Life II. 305 It was the key to his success: he knew the value of time.
1948 A. C. Kinsey et al. Sexual Behavior Human Male i. 19 Tennyson thought of the flower in the crannied wall as the key to the secrets of the universe.
1977 J. I. M. Stewart Madonna of Astrolabe i. 20 I'll tackle Albert. I still think he's the key.
2004 D. Abulafia Italy in Central Middle Ages 21 Community is the key to understanding the civilization of northern and central Italy in the central Middle Ages.
b. A word or other device for encrypting or decrypting a code or cipher; something which enables the interpretation of an allegorical, cryptic, or otherwise obscure work; a means of translating a foreign text.Recorded earliest in key cipher n. at Compounds 1b.cipher-, decryption, private, public key: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > code, cipher > [noun] > key
countercipher1598
key1605
code book1703
keyword1762
cipher-key1834
key card1841
cipher1885
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > parable, allegory, or apologue > [noun] > explanatory scheme of
key1605
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Qq1 The kindes of Cyphars..are many, according to the Nature or Rule of the infoulding: Wheele-Cyphars, Kay-Cyphars, Dovbles, &c. View more context for this quotation
1611 W. Sclater (title) A key to the key of Scripture.
1675 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 290 'Tis most of it in cypher, wch ye Key will unfolde.
1715 N. B. Clavis Ovidiana (title page) An numerical key to Ovid De tristibus. Shewing by Figures answering to each Word in every Line, in what Order every Word ought to be taken, so as to construe into good Sence.
1753 Scots Mag. Apr. 208/2 A burlesque upon some late..transactions; but seems to want a key.
1800 Duke of Wellington Let. 16 June in Dispatches (1837) I. 151 I beg also that you will send me a key of the cipher.
1854 Punch 26 82/2 A key to the next advertisement on our list would be very acceptable.
1910 Visual Signaling (Signal Corps U.S. Army) vi. 84 In practice the key is usually applied directly in enciphering and reversed in deciphering messages.
1957 D. Burk London in Seven Days 76 The Rosetta Stone is in fact a key to Egyptian picture writing.
2000 R. Collins John Fante 285 Here is the key to Fante's tender roman à clef, My Dog Stupid: Harriet = Joyce; Tina = Victoria; [etc.].
2003 M. Bishop Computer Security (2004) xi. 277 Despite the use of sophisticated cryptosystems and random keys, cipher systems may provide inadequate security if not used carefully.
c. A textbook or section of a textbook containing solutions to mathematical problems, translation exercises, etc.
ΚΠ
1772 C. Vyse Tutor's Guide (ed. 2) Pref. p. iii I have not adjoined the Answers to the Questions, as I have published..a Key to the Tutor's Guide, wherein all the Answers are worked at Length.
1826 Edinb. Rev. June 63 Some of the best Greek and Roman classics should be immediately published, with Keys.
1870 ‘A. R. Hope’ My Schoolboy Friends iv. 52 The master used a Key to Henry's Exercises.
1906 Rev. of Reviews Apr. 415/2 It would have afforded great help to students if an Esperanto version of some English book were prepared, so that students could practise composition with a ready-made key.
1912 T. Tapper Youth & Opportunity xi. 101 I worked it [sc. a sum] out and found, on turning to the key at the back that my answer was right.
2002 E. Penner Guide New Test. Greek p. ix Students are expected to discipline themselves by trying their best to do the work at hand before consulting the key.
d. A list or diagram explaining the figures in a photograph or picture, the features of a map, or the symbols, abbreviations, colours, etc., used in a book, chart, or other work. Cf. legend n. 8c.See also pronunciation key n. at pronunciation n. Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > writing accompanying map or illustration
key1797
legend1863
card key1890
1797 D. Orme Descr. Hist. Picture Lord St. Vincent's Victory (single sheet) (heading) Key to Mr. Orme's print & picture of Adml. Nelson's boarding the Spanish ships.
1845 Ann. Rep. Superintendent Common Schools N.-Y. 277 Require them to..trace the principal rivers, mountains, gulfs, bays, &c., and mark down the characters for the principal cities, towns, and villages. They may now turn to the key and ascertain their names, and mark them also upon the slate.
1877 Notes & Queries 19 May 389/2 I am anxious to know where I can see a key to Hodges's picture, of which I have a print, representing the death of Capt. Cook.
1904 Booklovers Mag. Nov. 713/1 Whenever he wishes to ascertain the pronunciation of a word he has to consult the key at the bottom of the page or in the beginning of the book.
1952 G. H. Dury Map Interpr. xvi. 190 A key should be given, including the commonest symbols used on a map and also the most obscure.
1973 Boys' Life Oct. 18/1 Key to Abbreviations. R = Rook. N = Knight [etc.].
2010 B. Strickland Tour de Lance 248 Every kilometer of the climb is color-coded and the last four are almost solid black—‘percentage superior to 9 percent’, as the key explains.
e. Botany and Zoology. A set of descriptive statements designed so that selecting those which apply to an unknown organism allows its identification or its attribution to a particular taxon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > taxonomy > [noun] > identification or classification > key
key1836
1836 G. Bentham Labiatarum Genera et Species Pref. p. xi The same object may..be better answered by an Analysis, or Conspectus Specierum, prefixed to each genus. This I have endeavoured to do, both as a key to the species and as a test of the validity of species.
1856 A. Gray Man. Bot. Northern U.S. (ed. 2) Pref. p. xi By means of an Analytical Artificial Key to the Natural Orders..I enable the student very readily to refer any of our plants to its proper Family. This Key is entirely remodelled in the present edition.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds 53 The key conducts to a genus, by presenting in succession, certain alternatives.
1928 Forestry 2 63 Considerable experience is necessary in recognizing structural differences between woods and in the preparation of keys as an aid to identification.
1946 J. Hutchinson Common Wild Flowers (rev. ed.) Pref. p. vi We should be fairly well qualified to use the simple type of key beginning on page xi.
2010 J. Rukšāns Crocuses ii. 51 Sometimes it is difficult to find the simplest differences between two species, and preparing good keys for plant identification in the field and garden is not easy.
6. A person who or thing which is central to a system, group, or organization; an essential or key element; a mainstay. Cf. sense A. 10b and key adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > essential or central > upon which something depends
harrec1000
pina1538
key1559
pinch1581
axle-treec1600
axlea1634
fulcrum1668
keystone1722
pivot1748
turning-point1836
landmark1859
axis1860
linchpin1954
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > superior
key1693
overdog1908
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Clarence xviii His brother also there with him was slayne, Where decayed the kayes of chiualrie.
1578 T. Nicholas tr. F. Lopez de Gómara Pleasant Hist. Conquest W. India 319 The key of all these wars consisted in this victory.
c1620 A. Hume Of Orthogr. Britan Tongue (1870) i. vii. §6 That general, quhilk I called the keie of orthographie,..that is the congruence of the symbol and sound symbolized.
1636 J. Trussell Contin. Coll. Hist. Eng. iii. 185 The Earle of Warwicke, relying vpon his brothers care of his charge, considering he was the Key of their worke [etc.].
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. iii. ii. 103 Which..are among our Fruits that which those called the Keys in a Pack of Hounds are in Hunting.
1724 tr. J.-P. de Crousaz New Treat. Art of Thinking II. ii. ii. 341 Mathematicks are the Key of true Physicks.
1855 Hunt's Merchants' Mag. Aug. 186 In our necessarily narrow limits, it is impossible to trace the history of these financial events. During the four years of Mr. Van Buren's administration, it was the key of party organization.
1890 M. Foster Text Bk. Physiol. (ed. 5) III. ii. 1024 We may take perhaps as the key of the structure the fibrils of the molecular layer.
1950 Billboard 14 Jan. 20/2 Decca..continues to be a key in the [gramophone record] standardization picture.
2003 J. F. Walsh Indispensable Staff Manager iii. 23 Senior management focuses its time and energy on the keys of the business and usually has little tolerance for any complaints emanating from staff unless they are on point.
7. Chess. The first move in the solution of a problem (problem n. 5); = key-move n. at Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > move > type of move
neck1557
stroke1735
key1845
forced move1847
key-move1847
fianchetto1848
queening1860
pinning1900
mutate1922
valve1930
zwischenzug1941
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > problems > solutions
key1845
cook1875
1845 Illustr. London News 8 Mar. 160/3 You have not yet hit upon the key to No. 62. Try again.
1878 S. Loyd Chess Strategy 201 There is always a great deal of chance in solving a problem, such as hitting upon the key by accident.
1890 J. Rayner Chess Probl. 12 A really beautiful problem should be strong all round: it should have an elegant key, brilliant strategy, and pretty mates.
1938 C. S. Kipping Chess Probl. Sci. I. 51 This was followed by six dis. checks..with a check key, and J. L. Millins showed that it could be done with a quiet key... Ua Tane, using White King diagonal battery and Pawn promotion key showed that six were possible.
1958 C. Mansfield & B. Harley Mod. Two-move Chess Probl. 19 The solver's attention is drawn to it, and Key possibilities are limited.
2000 P. J. Tamburro Learn Chess from Greats iv. 80/2 The key is 1. Qc3.
8. Advertising (originally U.S.). A method used to distinguish an advertisement so as to identify the publication generating any particular response. Cf. key v. 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > business of advertising > [noun] > device to measure response
key1896
1896 Printers' Ink 14 Oct. 22/2 An ad must be keyed in such a way that the key will not be apparent to the general reader.
1905 E. E. Calkins & R. Holden Art Mod. Advertising xi. 266 A variation of the ‘key’ in advertising is the coupon.
1957 D. T. Clark & B. A. Gottfried Dict. Business & Finance 201/1 The key may be a special street or box number, or a department to which the reply is to be addressed, or it may be a number or letter code included in the reply coupon if one is used.
2001 B. F. Schenck & L. English Small Business Marketing for Dummies viii. 123 For example, BG0214 might be the key for an ad that runs on Valentine's Day in The Boston Globe.
9. Computing. Short for key field n. at Compounds 3. More fully primary key.
ΚΠ
1963 Adv. in Electronics & Electron Physics 18 53 Beyond the equipment required for the comparisons, a content-addressed memory has extra equipment in the capacity required for storing the keys.
1988 PC Mag. 17 May 218/3 Numeric fields can be concatenated with alphanumeric fields to create a unique key for the file.
1990 E. Horowitz & S. Sahni Fund. Data Structures in Pascal (ed. 3) xi. 646 The physical sequence of records is ordered on some key, called the primary key.
2010 N. Conner & M. MacDonald Office 2010 xxvi. 741 If your database doesn't have an ID field..it's up to you to create one and set the primary key.
III. Senses denoting objects which resemble a key in form or function, esp. in technical contexts.
10.
a. Architecture. A central stone or boss at the summit of a vault, or at the intersection of a number of ribs.
ΚΠ
1339–40 in F. R. Chapman Sacrist Rolls Ely (1907) II. 98 Item, solut. Johanni de Burwelle pro j imagine tallianda super le principale Keye volte superioris et ad mensam Dni. 2 s.
1371 in J. Raine Fabric Rolls York Minster (1859) 10 (MED) Operacio de keyes..operandis pro celura.
1418 Durham Cloister Roll in J. Raine Fabric Rolls York Minster (1859) 345 (MED) Nicolas Kervor, pro pictura ix keys xx s.
1427–8 in J. A. Kingdon Arch. Worshipful Company of Grocers (1886) I. 167 (MED) Item, for making of the celour, the batauntes, and kerving of the keyys in the parlour.
1695 tr. G. de Courtilz de Sandras Life John Baptist Colbert 69 The height from the Key of the Vault on the inside, amounts to nine Toises and a half.
1785 F. de Tott Mem. II. iii. 45 The Basso-relievo, placed under the Key of the Vault.
1842 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 5 279/1 These keys enabled us..to set the ribs with great precision.
1875 H. Van Brunt tr. E. E. Viollet-le-duc Disc. Archit. vii. 275 In order to diminish the thrusts of the longitudinal and transverse arches of our vaults..elevate their summits to the level of the keys of the diagonal ribs.
1907 S. Baring-Gould Bk. Pyrenees iii. 32 The arms of England..are emblazoned on the keys of the vaulting ribs.
1989 W. Weaver tr. U. Eco Foucault's Pendulum i. 6 The curve that rose from the capitals of the semicircle of columns and ran along the ribs of the vault toward the key.
b. Architecture. A central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together; the keystone of an arch.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > parts of > keystone
key1608
keystonea1637
key-piece1669
sagitta1703
key block1823
1608 B. Jonson Descr. Masque Vicount Hadington in Characters Two Royall Masques sig. E4v Ouer-head two Personages..in flying postures, and twise so big as the life, in place of the Arch, and holding a gyrlond of Myrtle for the Key.
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. 103 If the great Doore, be Arched, with some braue Head, cut in fine Stone or Marble for the Key of the Arch.
1696 in D. Knoop & G. P. Jones Sc. Mason & Mason Word (1939) 83 The key [is]..under a perpend esler and a green divot.
1723 E. Chambers tr. S. Le Clerc Treat. Archit. I. 52 Keys..ought to be..a real support, and not stand for mere Ornaments as they frequently do.
1751 C. Labelye Descr. Westm. Bridge 21 This upper Arch is..thicker in the Reins, or towards the Bottom, than at the Key or Top.
1860 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 23 362/2 Our public works abound with cut stone arches having keys varying from ·36 to ·4 of the square root of the radius of the crown.
1879 Carpentry & Building Dec. 233/2 Draw a parallel to the axis, at a distance equal to half the thickness of the center of the key of the arch.
1920 H. S. Hall Steel Preferred xvi. 238 The arch needs a new key and that darned quick.
1978 R. T. Kreh Adv. Masonry Skills xxi. 293 Construction of an arch is always begun at the two ends or piers, and laid up to the center or key of the arch.
2011 S. Piccolo tr. A. Muttoni Art of Structures 75 Thanks to the effect of the deck.., the reinforced concrete arch has sufficient stability, in spite of the thickness at the key of only 23 cm.
c. Engineering. A final segment inserted at the top of a section of tunnel lining, which holds the other segments tightly in place.
ΚΠ
1870 Van Nostrand's Eclectic Engin. Mag. Jan. 69/2 This cast-iron is disposed in segments, each reaching 18 inches along the tunnel... At the top a key is inserted to tighten the segments into their places.
1895 Engineering 8 Feb. 167/2 The key is slightly narrower at the outside of the lining than at the inside.
1923 Pop. Sci. Monthly May 46/2 Each ring is made up of 14 segments at the crown of the arch, all bolted together with 160 10-pound bolts.
1995 B. Marshall in C. J. Kirkland Engin. Channel Tunnel vi. 104 The three lower segments of the leading ring being built after the five upper segments and key of the previous ring had been positioned and expanded.
†11. A tiller, a rudder (figurative in quots.). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > steering equipment > [noun] > helm > tiller
steer-staffa1382
key?c1400
steer-tree1483
tillera1625
thwartship tiller1897
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iii. pr. xii. l. 2926 He is a keye [L. clavus] and a stiere by whiche þat þe edifice of þis worlde is ykept stable.
c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) c O anker and keye of our gude aventure.
12.
a. Mechanics. A piece of wood or metal which is inserted between other pieces to hold them or tighten them; a pin, bolt, or wedge inserted into a hole, or between parts, so as to lock parts together; spec. one for connecting a shaft to a rotating part of a machine. Cf. cotter n.1
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > pin or peg
preenOE
prickOE
kevel1251
pina1275
prag1354
key1434
peg1440
tholec1440
thole-pinc1440
lock1514
cotterel1570
pivot1730
pinning1742
steady pin1791
gib1795
needle1811
lockdown1832
cotter1842
peglet1890
pushpin1903
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > key
key1434
clavis1649
twister1939
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > other parts > [noun] > devices for securing or uniting parts
key1434
chevel-bolt1480
strop1573
gimbals1577
gimmals1598
gimmera1603
strap1620
bridle1667
key band1735
screw-joint1810
locking plate1812
safety pin1822
king bolt1839
square coupling1845
holding-down bolt1846
ball joint1849
pinholder1854
knuckle-joint1860
bayonet-joint1870
elbow1874
fox-key1874
split-pin1875
cotter-pin1881
elbow-joint1881
banjo-frame1888
holding-down pin1892
holding-down ring1899
feather1908
banjo union1922
1434 in L. F. Salzman Building in Eng. (1952) 504 Item vj keyis de elme long' iij xviij ped' cuiuslibet et iij long' cuiuslibet xxiiij ped'.
?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. iiii The body of the wayn..the crosse somer, the keys and picstaues.
1603–4 in H. J. F. Swayne Churchwardens' Accts. Sarum (1896) 152 Boltes and kayes for the belles.
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall ii. 37 The brass Key (formerly described as a stopple in the brass Cover).
1787 G. Winter New Syst. Husbandry 312 Take out the pins or keys which fasten the iron work of the brass collars.
1838 F. W. Simms Public Wks. Great Brit. 15 Two wrought iron keys for fixing the rail in the chair.
1914 B. F. Fletcher & H. P. Fletcher Carpentry & Joinery (ed. 4) xi. 100 They are bound to the standards by rope, and tightened by wooden keys or wedges.
1960 New Scientist 22 Sept. 779/1 Such a component..was generally made of at least three pieces: shaft, key and cam.
2004 A. Berrien Powerboat Care & Repair viii. 132/2 Make sure the key in the shaft and the keyway in the coupling are properly lined up.
b. Joinery. A piece of wood set across the grain into a recess in the back of a board or set of boards, or flush against the back, in order to prevent warping and bending. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1774 T. Skaife Key Civil Archit. xxii. 129 When you key your dado, leave the keys long enough at the broad end to reach the joists, or floor.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. at Key (Carpent.) Keys in joinery, pieces of timber let, transverse to the fibres, into the back of a board.
1875 Notes Building Constr. I. iv. 61 The scarfs are frequently aided in their resistance to strains by the use of fish plates, of hard wood keys, and of wedges.
1904 A. C. Passmore Handbk. Techn. Terms Archit. & Building 199/2 Keyed dado, that which has keys of wood grooved into it across the grain at the back to prevent it warping.
1945 Pop. Sci. Jan. 158/1 Plank flooring. It was kept from spreading and warping by wooden keys that were shaped like butterflies.
c. A piece inserted into a joint in order to make it more rigid; spec. (in some types of mortise and tenon joint) a piece of wood driven through a hole in a protruding tenon and fitted flush to the surface of the part bearing the mortise.
ΚΠ
1791 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse §45 The iron stanchions..were not fixed into the rock in the method of Key and Dovetail..but were fixed in with club ends.
1801 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. I. 170/2 Fig. 25. and 26. exhibit the most approved form of a scarf... The key will force the parts together with perfect tightness.
1854 U.S. Patent 10,819 1/2 By the one operation of driving home the key..the one stone of one course, and the two stones of the adjoining course have been tightly drawn together.
1870 D. Craik Pract. Amer. Millwright & Miller xvi. 270 A piece is cut out about two inches deep and a foot wide, into which the step for the spindle foot is placed, and fastened by four dovetail tapering keys.
1927 Pop. Sci. Monthly Dec. 94/3 Insert tenon through mortise, mark location of key as shown, and chisel a mortise for it.
1991 Amer. Woodworker Jan. 25/2 Assembling the keyed mortise-and-tenon joint is as easy as a couple of solid raps on the key.
†d. In quarrying and stonework: a wedge of iron driven between two feathers (feather n. 15b) in order to split a stone. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §147 A method sometimes used..for the division of hard stones, called the Key and Feather..The Key is a long tapering wedge..The Feathers are pieces of iron, also of a wedge like shape.
1888 Engin. News 16 June 484/2 The stones are quarried both by steam drills (blasting) and by the ‘key and feather’ method, mostly by the latter.
e. Bookbinding. A U- or H-shaped or slotted piece used to secure the bands of a book in a sewing press or sewing frame.
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1818 H. Parry Art of Bookbinding 1 Sewing-frame, with brass or iron keys, to fasten the cords or bands.
1901 D. Cockerell Bookbinding & Care Bks. vii. 102 The key is then turned over, winding up a little of the string, and the prongs slipped over the main cord.
1986 A. A. Watson Hand Bookbinding (new ed.) 38 Cut three tapes about 14 inches long and attach them to keys as shown.
2005 J. Cambras Compl. Bk. Bookbinding ii. 23/1 Sewing keys keep the supports under tension in the setup of the sewing frame.
13. A dry fruit of certain kinds of tree, such as the ash and sycamore, having a thin membranous wing and usually growing in bunches. Cf. samara n.Recorded earliest in ash-key n. at ash n.1 Compounds 2a.maple, sycamore key: see the first element.
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > [noun] > indehiscent fruit or achene
key1440
samara1577
achenium1819
achene1825
caryopsis1830
key fruit1849
tetrachaenium1856
cremocarp1861
Cypsela1861
achaenocarp1874
triachaenium1882
pseudospermium1890
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 143 Esch key, frute, clava.
1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Surueyeng xxix. f. 46v Ye may gette the keys of asshes, nuttes, and suche other.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 6 They are called in Englishe ashe Keyes, because they hangh in bunches after the maner of Keyes.
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva (1679) 4 Oaklings, young beeches, ash, and some others, spring from the self-sown mast and keys.
1741 B. Langley Landed Gentleman’s Useful Compan. v. 83 The Ash is raised from Seed, (called Keys) which are to be gathered when they begin to fall, about the end of November.
a1793 G. White Observ. Veg. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1802) II. 249 Many ash trees bear loads of keys every year.
1838 J. C. Loudon Arboretum II. iii. 1224 The seeds [of the ash] (which are included in what are commonly called keys, but botanically samaras,) are generally ripe in October.
1898 Intelligence 15 Sept. 540/2 The wings of the ‘keys’ slightly diverge and are about one inch long.
1903 Gardener’s Chron. 19 Dec. 415/1 Let the keys therefore be gathered from free-growing and vigorous specimens if the best results are looked for.
1929 Times 3 Oct. 17/6 Briar-hips, the waxen clusters of the guelder-rose, the keys of the mountain ash, have put on their several tones of winter red.
2005 C. Tudge Secret Life Trees ix. 226 Maples are easily recognized for their fruits: paired keys, which spin helicopter-style in the wind.
14. An instrument shaped to fit or grasp a peg, screw, etc., so that it may be turned.
a. Music. An instrument for turning the tuning pegs of a stringed instrument.tuning-key: see the first element.In quot. a1616 figurative, with admixture of sense A. 3b.
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1612 H. Peacham Minerua Britanna 45 Thou..with Ivorie key, Didst tune my stringes, that slackt or broken lay.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 83 Thy false vncle..hauing both the key, Of Officer, and office, set all hearts i'th state To what tune pleas'd his eare.
1727 A. Boyer Dictionaire Royal (rev. ed.) at Clef A Key to turn the Pins of a Hapsecord [sic].
1799 Crit. Rev. Feb. 238 Some of the pins being turned by the fingers and others by the key.
1825 W. Scott Talisman xiii, in Tales Crusaders IV. 216 About his neck there hung in a scarf of sky-blue silk a wrest, as it was called,—that is, the key with which a harp is tuned.
1842 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 18 June 176/2 Iron pegs, which can be turned round by a key to tune the instrument [sc. a dulcimer].
1902 Catal. Crosby Brown Coll. Musical Instruments (Metropolitan Mus. Art) I. 42 Seven brass pins inserted from behind and tuned with a small key.
1992 C. Taylor Exploring Music (1994) iii. 124 The basic tuning is by tightening or slackening the end pins with a key.
b. An instrument for winding a clock, watch, or other clockwork device. Also in figurative contexts.bench-, pistol-, tipsy, watch-key: see the first element.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [noun] > instrument for winding
key1631
clock winder1889
1631 J. Done Polydoron Ep. Ded. sig. A3 Reason..[is] the key to wind up the small portative watch of our own Microcosme.
1677 J. Phillips tr. J.-B. Tavernier Persian Trav. v. iv. 207 in tr. J.-B. Tavernier Six Voy. (1678) One day the King happening to wind up his Watch, and turning the Key the wrong way, broke the Fusil.
1709 London Gaz. No. 4599/4 It had a black Ribbon tied to it, and the Key of the Watch fastened to that.
1771 Encycl. Brit. III. 934/2 When the cord..is entirely run down from off the barrel, it is wound up again by means of a key.
1853 Anglo-Amer. Mag. Aug. 179/1 We insert a tiny key into a tiny key-hole, wind up our musical box, and thereby coil up a spring.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 131 Capable of being wound without a key.
1900 Every other Sunday 23 Sept. 10/1 Sam muttered on his way to the clock; and, turning the key,..he wound up the heavy weights.
1962 E. Bruton Dict. Clocks & Watches (1963) 99 Having to wind a watch by a separate key was a nuisance as the key was easily lost.
2001 A. Reynolds Chasm City (2003) i. 7 You wound it up with a key, like a clockwork mouse.
c. gen. An instrument which grips or fits the head of a screw, bolt, nut, etc., so that it may be turned; an instrument or component which opens or closes a valve.Allen, bed-, box-, brace-, nut-, radiator, screw-, skate key, etc.: see the first element.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > screwdrivers, wrenches, spanners > [noun] > spanner or wrench
turn-bolt1596
wrenching-iron1597
key1659
screw key1742
spanner1790
screw wrench1791
wrench1794
screw spanner1831
wrencher1832
1659 J. Leak tr. I. de Caus New Inventions Water-works 14 The Cock D; whose barrel is pierced..to the end that the key C turning either one way or the other,..the Water..may run when the hole of the key C shall agree with one or the other of them.
1660 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mechanicall 16 If..the Key of the Stop-cock be so turn'd, as that..a free passage be opened betwixt the Cylinder and the Receiver.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 436/1 A Key for a Screw Head.
1745 J. Swift Direct. to Servants 20 Hide the Key of the Jack.
1783 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 73 443 Those stop-cocks must be turned by means of a key adapted to their square tops.
1808 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. 20 Suppl. 345 You are then to adjust the level by turning with a key the screw, which moves the balance contained in the bottom of the inner tube.
1854 R. S. Burn Colonist's & Emigrant's Handbk. Mech. Arts v. 91 The key is sometimes made bent, having holes of different sizes at the ends, so as to take in nuts of two sizes.
1902 Daily Chron. 27 June 2/6 Push-tap valves..do not require a key, the driver simply having to press the push and the water runs off.
1954 Pop. Sci. Sept. 260/1 A long key made from hex rod is used to lock the stop in the approximate position in the spindle.
1995 I. Rankin Let it Bleed (1996) xiii. 93 He twisted the key as hard as he could, but the drip remained.
d. Dentistry. An instrument for extracting teeth, consisting of a shaft with a transverse handle at one end and a pivoted claw, beak, or hook at right angles to it at the other. Cf. key instrument n. at Compounds 3. Now historical.See also tooth-key n. at tooth n. Compounds 1b.
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the world > health and disease > healing > dentistry > [noun] > instruments for extracting teeth
tooth-iron1483
pelican1598
tooth-drawer1598
dog1611
snap1611
plychon1688
pullikins1688
screw pelican1688
tooth-wrest1706
pounce1742
key instrument1762
key1774
punch1826
tooth-key1827
tooth-forceps1844
turnkey1855
1774 N. D. Falck Seaman's Med. Instructor ii. 67 Teeth Instruments: Of the whole tribe there is certainly none more universal than the key.
1787 B. Bell Syst. Surg. (ed. 2) IV. xxx. 276 For a considerable time past, an instrument termed a Key has been almost the only one employed in Britain for extracting firm teeth.
1849 C. A. Harris Dict. Dental Sci. & Med. Terminol. 426/1 Since the time of Garengeot, the key has underwent a number of improvements..almost every dentist has felt the necessity of modifying the instrument.
1856 R. Druitt Surgeon's Vade Mecum (ed. 7) 450 The key is..often employed for the extraction of the biscuspides and molars.
1915 W. Leaf Homer & Hist. i. 9 The waste-paper basket in the library, the scrap-heap in the factory, are not perhaps very pleasant objects of contemplation; nor is the dentist's key.
1966 J. M. Campbell Catal. Menzies Campbell Coll. 12 The original dental keys, constructed entirely of metal, had a straight shaft.
2000 J. Druett Rough Med. iii. 74 A few lancets, a key for extracting teeth, and a simple medical guide.
15. The part of a first coat of plaster on a wall which passes between the laths and secures the rest; (hence) the hold which plaster has on a surface; the roughness of a surface which enables plaster or some other material to adhere to it.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > [noun] > bricklaying and plastering > plastering > rough surface to give better hold
key1813
tie1873
1813 ‘T. Martin’ Circle Mech. Arts 486/2 After the plaster has been put by in this method, it is crossed all over with the end of a lath which has the effect of giving a key or tie to the finishing coats.
1867 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) ii. iii. 553 A better key is obtained upon the bricks and mortar.
1888 C. F. Mitchell Building Constr. (1889) i. vii. 104 Tredgold recommends the arrises of wide timbers to be taken off, so as not to interrupt the key for plaster.
1944 J. B. Parry in R. Greenhalgh Pract. Builder viii. 282/1 Owing to lack of key presented by such hard glossy surfaces, the usual procedure is to apply a thin, sharp..priming coat prepared from white lead.
1965 I. H. Seeley Building Quantities Explained v. 54 (heading) Key for plaster, asphalt, etc.
1990 Do it Yourself Apr. 43/1 Gloss paint should be sanded to provide a good key.
16. Basketball. The area bounded by the (originally narrow) free-throw lane and free-throw circle together, formerly resembling a key or keyhole in shape; = keyhole n. 3b. Also: the free-throw lane alone (used esp. with reference to a rule prohibiting players from occupying this space for more than three seconds at a time).
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1946 Washington Post 25 Dec. 8/5 Always try to meet the ball when thrown in by a teammate, but stay as deep in the key as you can.
1948 Boys' Life Dec. 6/1 The second-string squad set up a zone defense, and Art Ribbons planted himself in the key, back to the basket, while he watched the ball.
1965 J. McPhee Sense of where you Are v. 135 He made two foul shots and a jumper from the top of the key.
1977 Nevada State Jrnl. 20 Jan. 11/2 The wheelchair variety is played much the same way leg basketball is played. The only rules applying especially to that mode of travel are..you are allowed five seconds, not three, in the key.
2004 Sporting News 19 Jan. 23 (caption) He made only one shot from inside the key—a wide-open, highlight-reel dunk in the closing seconds.
IV. Senses relating to pitch or tone.
17. Music.
†a. A note, a tone; esp. the first or lowest note or tone of a scale or sequence of notes, the keynote. Obsolete.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > diatonic scale series > notes in diatonic scale
keya1450
seventh1591
fifth1597
final1609
octave1656
sub-octave1659
keynote1677
mediant1721
sensible note?1775
subdominant?1775
submediant?1775
medius1782
leading note1786
nominal1786
subsemitone1799
superdominant1806
supertonic1806
tonic1806
subtonic1817
dominant1823
sensitive note1845
nominal note1884
a1450 Musical Treat. in Speculum (1935) 10 262 (MED) This same rwle may ye kepe betwene Dsolre, Dlasolre, & al oþer base keyys, whan þe countersight goþ low.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes i. f. 87v The maister chauntres that sette the kaye, or take the first parte of a song to begynne it in a quiere.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 4 Now I praie you shew me all the seuerall Keyes wherein you may begin your sixe Notes [i.e. hexachords].
1609 J. Dowland tr. A. Ornithoparchus Micrologus 7 A Key is the opening of a Song, because like as a Key opens a dore, so doth it the Song.
1694 W. Holder Treat. Harmony vi. 156 Draw a Second Scale..but let the Key, or First Note, be D. Sol re Proper, on the same Organ standing tuned as before.
1730 A. Bedford Script. Chronol. v. iv. 579 The full Close or Period ending in the Key it self, in which the Chanting Tune is set.
1776 W. Emerson Miscellanies xv. 360 Key or key note, is the lowest or ending note of a piece of music.
b. A system of notes comprising a scale, regarded as forming the tonal basis of a piece or passage of music.A key is named after its keynote (keynote n. 1), so a passage of music based on the major scale of C is described as being ‘in the key of C’ (or ‘C major’); a passage based on the C minor scale is ‘in the key of C minor’. Cf. major adj. 7b, minor adj. 6b.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > key
key?1533
mode1667
?1533–4 R. Saltwood Compar. bytwene iiij. Byrdes sig. Aiv Ful meryly in tyme it recorded Swete, swete, iug, iug ryght meruelus And in another key streyght reported In manyfold notes lyke wonderus.
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 10 How many keyes, how many cliffes, howe many moodes.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 207 Both warbling of one song, both in one key . View more context for this quotation
a1704 G. Keller Compl. Method Thorough Bass (1707) 11 (heading) Example in a sharp key.
1787 J. Wolcot Ode upon Ode (ed. 5) 46 To hear her pompously demand the Key Of ev'ry Piece Musicians play.
1826 Baroness Bunsen in A. J. C. Hare Life & Lett. Baroness Bunsen (1879) I. vii. 268 I have often practised writing out parts in the different keys.
1898 J. Stainer Stainer & Barrett's Dict. Musical Terms (rev. ed.) 253/2 The key of C requires no flats or sharps for this purpose, hence it is called the normal key.
1932 B. Davis Saxophone xxx. 154 Because it is not necessary to change the key when reading for the C Melody, this instrument has come to be regarded as non-transposing, in order to differentiate it from those for which it is necessary to change key.
1961 A. Hopkins Talking about Symphonies i. 22 Certain keys have emotional connotations in composers' minds.
1997 Classical Music Mag. Dec. 32/2 Purcell..could always turn out a pensive sarabande or a nostalgic chaconne, and make a major key sound as serious as a minor.
2011 Boston Globe 5 Apr. g6 He restarted the coffeehouse-gospel ‘Cup of Sorrow’ with good humor after the band came in and he realized that he had been playing it in the wrong key.
c. The sum of melodic and harmonic relations existing between the tones of such a system; tonality.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > key > tonality
modulation1721
tonality1838
key1841
1841 Musical World 13 May 313 This is quite enough to destroy the ear, and all feeling for key.
1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 99/1 A special plan for each, which has frequent variations of tempo but always coherence of key.
1918 M. V. O' Shea et al. World Bk. V. 4019/1 They knew nothing about key—not even the facts which the youngest beginner learns to-day.
1921 G. Overton Answerer ii. xix. 258 Disordered music, without key, without tonality.
1990 C. L. Krumhansl Cognitive Found. Musical Pitch iv. 77 Pattern-matching to tonal hierarchies may be one mechanism through which listeners arrive at a sense of key.
18. figurative.
a. The tone or tenor of a piece of writing, situation, etc.; the intensity or force of a feeling or action. Cf. low key adj. 2.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > [noun] > tone
keya1530
humoura1568
style1567
strain1622
tone1765
a1530 T. Lupset Compend. Treat. Dyenge Well (1534) sig. E.iiii In this tenor and key sowneth al our holy scripture.
1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. F3v As for my carryage hee knew hee was to tune it at a key, eyther high or low, or as hee list.
1599 S. Daniel Musophilus in Poet. Ess. sig. D2 His passions set to such a pleasing kay.
1621 F. Quarles Hadassa sig. K3v Let peace and loue exalt your key of mirth.
1646 D. Evance Noble Order 16 Which is the right Key of obedience.
1723 Mem. Cardinal de Retz ii. 104 We thought our selves, that we had touch'd too high a Key; but a lower Note had not awaken'd or kept awake Men, whom fear had perfectly stupified.
1774 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives (ed. 2) V. 52 The key of politics, which he first touched, he kept to without variation.
1816 M. Keating Trav. (1817) I. 234 He returned in a high key of spirits in consequence of the reception he was favoured with.
1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. (ed. 2) I. xiv. 129 The writs to the barons..are shorter but in the same key.
1927 H. Crane Let. 7 May (1965) 295 Your Foreword set the key..for most of Gorham's comments.
1951 Billboard 19 May 10/3 Emily Lawrence's portrayal of the wife was in such an overstated hysterical key as to make for more neurotism.
1991 C. Brooke in C. Brooke et al. David Knowles Remembered iii. 65 The account is formal and strictly economical. But on St Bernard's entry the author changed to a new key.
b. The pitch or tone of a person's voice.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > [noun]
pitch1597
key1600
tune1694
keynote1762
1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. F Tis her worship speakes so, and not she, no faith mistresse, speake mee in the olde key.
1601 B. Jonson Fountaine of Selfe-love iv. i. sig. G2 Theres one speakes in a Key: like the opening of some Iustices gate, or a Post-Boyes horne. View more context for this quotation
1623 P. Massinger Duke of Millaine ii. i. sig. D4 Ile speake to her And in a high Key too.
1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §46 Men speak in a high or a low key.
1748 J. Mason Ess. Elocution 10 Carefully to preserve the Key (that is, the Command) of your Voice.
1855 Chambers's Jrnl. 9 June 355/1 I repeated what I had said in a louder key.
1877 H. Sweet Handbk. Phonetics iii. 96 Each sentence, or sentence-group, has a general pitch, or ‘key’ of its own.
1902 Education Apr. 503 Mothers are largely to blame by allowing baby voices to be pitched at a high, harsh key, full of whining and falsetto notes.
1987 W. Just Amer. Ambassador i. iii. 56 Carruthers's voice changed key, and he sighed.
2008 S. Simon Windy City (2009) xii. 125 ‘These are emotional times’, he said in a quieter key.
c. Art. The prevailing range of tones in a painting; the relative intensity of a particular colour scheme.
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the world > matter > colour > quality of colour > [noun] > shade or tone
shadowing1580
shade1690
key1713
nuance1823
colour tone1853
colour value1857
hue1857
neutral1859
shadow-script1898
value1902
1713 Ld. Shaftesbury Notion Hist. Draught Judgm. Hercules v. 30 The Harmony of Painting requires, that in whatever Key the Painter begins his Piece, he shou'd be sure to finish it in the same.
1778 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 527/1 The picture may justly be said to be a fair and true representation of nature, though in a lower key.
1851 H. Wilson Compos. Light & Shade 65 Pictures, painted in a ‘light key’, possess many advantages.
1876 J. Ruskin Arrows of Chace (1880) I. 174 Their harmonies of amber-colour and purple are full of exquisite beauty in their chosen key.
1927 Burlington Mag. Apr. 202/1 His Allegory of Vanity..is a good example of the semi-genre Caravaggio school product, painted in a vivid key, without forced contrasts.
2006 W. Baron Sickert xvi. 117/2 Sickert used this rehearsal to work out, in a more muted key, the bold colour scheme of the final version.
V. Senses relating to a lever or button.
19. Music.
a. On an organ, piano, or similar instrument: each of the levers pressed by the fingers or (on an organ) the feet in order to produce a note; cf. keyboard n. 1a. Also: each of the bars on a xylophone or similar instrument.foot-, organ, pianoforte, piano key, etc.: see the first element.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > [noun] > keyboard of > key
key1513
note1697
tasto1740
ivory1818
digital1878
manual1882
touch key1891
1513 in C. Kerry Hist. St. Lawrence, Reading (1883) 60 Payd for ye lokks to the same organs, one for the stopps and the oþer for the keyes.
a1527 W. Peeris Prov. in Anglia (1892) 14 478 He..must handill the keyes all lyke.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §158 In Clericalls, the Keyes are lined.
1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies 1 The unseen Bellows, nor the hand that plays Upon th' apparant note-dividing Kayes.
1664 S. Pepys Diary 5 Oct. (1971) V. 290 The new instrument..the Arched Viall..played on with Kees like an Organ.
1740 J. Grassineau tr. S. De Brossard Musical Dict. 169 The keys of an Organ are usually divided into four octaves.
1785 F. Burney Diary 16 Dec. (1842) II. 381 Are you sure you never play?—never touch the keys at all?
1866 Athenæum 7 Apr. 470/3 A machine of wooden keys, called the ‘xylophone’.
1896 A. J. Hipkins Descr. & Hist. Pianoforte 28 The lower keys are called the naturals and, where seen, are covered with ivory; the visible ends of the shorter upper keys, called sharps, are raised to the height required by blocks of ebony glued upon them.
1939 Hopewell (New Jersey) Herald 31 May 2/1 The harpsichord has two banks of keys.
1953 J. Baldwin Go tell it on Mountain i. 65 He touched a black key on the piano and it made a dull sound.
1997 N.Y. Times 2 May b40/3 A xylophone with half its keys missing.
2003 F. Shaw Sweetest Thing 16 She lifted the lid on a piano and ran her hand down the keys.
b. On some wind instruments, as the flute, clarinet, trumpet, concertina, etc.: each of the small levers or buttons pressed by the fingers in order to vary the pitch.octave, speaker-key: see the first element.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > wind instrument > [noun] > parts generally > key
stopc1500
key1754
octave key1866
speaker-key1890
touch key1891
1754 New & Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. II. at Flute Stopt and opened by the little finger's pressing on a brass, or sometimes, a silver key, like those in hautboys, bassoons, &c.
1829 Specif. Patent 5803 Finger keys have also been added to such instruments [as the concertina].
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. IV. 1105 D flute of ebony, with keys..Clarionets in B and D, in German silver, with all the keys.
1921 S. Greenbie Pacific Triangle xv. 241 Her stiff fingers worked upon the keys of an accordion in a sluggish fashion.
1973 R. Russell Bird Lives! xi. 142 A key on his saxophone broke.
2003 G. Rucka Fistful of Rain (2004) x. 89 Fiddling the keys on a trumpet.
c. Each of the resonant metal strips in a musical box which are plucked in order to produce a tune.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > musical box > [noun] > part of
key1823
roller1875
1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 67 Long bits of steel called the keys of the instrument.
1880 Horological Jrnl. Aug. 164/1 The cylinder which works the keys.
1914 M. Almon tr. R. Huch Recoll. Ludolf Ursleu xxvi, in German Classics of 19th & 20th Cent. XVIII. 417 A kind of music-box with metal keys, on which she produced little, ringing tones.
1999 G. Summit & J. Widess Making Gourd Musical Instruments i. 39 Pegs on the drum selectively pluck the tiny metal keys to produce a melody.
d. In plural and usually without article. Keyboard instruments as a class; the music or sounds produced by these. Cf. keyboard n. 1b.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > [noun]
clavier1845
keyboard instrument1850
keyboard1969
key1973
1973 San Antonio (Texas) Express & News 30 Dec. 17/3 (heading) Kooper on Keys.
1982 Winnipeg Free Press 24 Feb. 26/1 The best number is an almost all-instrumental... It indicates where Destri belongs—playing keys for Blondie.
1991 Billboard (Nexis) 14 Dec. 29 Insistent and impaling keys are tempered with a hypnotic melody and perky vocal sound bites.
2011 I. Marion Warm Bodies 152 He was a musician back then, played keys in a rock band.
20. On a telegraph, typewriter, computer, or other device: a lever or button pressed in order to transmit, produce, or enter an item of data, typically a particular letter or number; each of the buttons on a keyboard or keypad.control, curb-, escape, function, hot, Morse, return, shift-, space-, telegraph key, etc.: see the first element.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > lever > [noun] > others
hammer1546
pawl1730
swinger1825
key1837
throw lever1866
sweep-rod1867
bell-crank1881
control lever1887
touch key1957
1837 Specif. Patent 7390 4 Giving signals..by..pressure of his..fingers upon suitable buttons or finger keys.
1867 R. Sabine Electr. Telegr. 41 The transmitting key used by Morse in his later apparatus..consisted of a lever.
1875 Ladies' Repository Nov. 470/2 It consists of keys and a lever very much like the desk of the type-writer.
1919 C. Morley Rocking Horse 87 I heard the quick staccato click Of the typist's pounding keys.
1966 D. Bagley Wyatt's Hurricane i. 19 Wyatt drew a desk calculator and, after checking figures marked on the photographs, began to hammer the keys.
1973 U.S. Patent 3,920,926 The pad provides keys for numerals 0 to 9, while..the octothorp (#) key generates a command to send the contents of the memory into the telephone line.
2002 H. Holt Leonora (2003) iii. 26 I went back to the computer and tried to work, but I must have hit a wrong key or something.
B. adj.
Of paramount or crucial importance; dominant, chief, essential.Before the mid 20th cent. often hyphenated and probably construed as an attributive use of the noun.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > of high or great importance
worthlyeOE
mickleeOE
greatc1225
right hand?c1225
solemna1387
materialc1475
superior1526
grand1542
weighty1558
main1581
pregnant1591
pregnate1598
materious1611
moliminous1642
momentous1656
magic1696
all-important1748
big1748
eventful1756
colossal1775
bread and butter1822
bada1825
key1832
all-absorbing1834
earth-moving?1834
earth-shaking1835
earth-shatteringa1859
high-ranking1874
beaucoup1917
major league1951
earth-stopping1956
crucial1957
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important
mosteOE
foremostc1000
headOE
headlyOE
nexta1200
umest1513
primary1565
headest1577
ruling1590
forward1591
capital1597
of the first magnitude1643
palmary1646
top1647
prepondering1651
headmost1661
home1662
life-and-death1804
palmarian1815
bada1825
key1832
première1844
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > essential or central
cardinal1440
material1603
primal1619
real1620
centrical1659
vital1659
essential1770
nucleal1826
key1832
pivotal1837
keystone1846
pivot1861
quintessential1901
central1902
core1962
1832 Libr. Fine Arts May 396 All these materials might be described or delineated as required; leaving the composition, point of time, and action of the leading group and key-figure to the artist.
1865 Proc. Amer. Philol. Soc. 10 139 The water-symbol..stands out clearly as the key element in all the compound symbols.
1877 Methodist Q. Rev. Oct. 740 The definition of ‘the strength of a motive’ is key to several of our chapters.
1919 National Builder Jan. 97/1 Many of these [industries] are ‘key’ or ‘pivotal’ upon which other industries depend.
1928 J. Boon Victorians, Edwardians & Georgians I. 203 There had been considerable difficulty in getting hold of a key witness.
1930 New Statesman 30 Aug. 637/1 The Centre is the great opportunist party..never missing a chance to capture key-positions in the bureaucracy.
1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! ii. 110 It is Stravinsky who is the key-figure of our times.
1959 Times Rev. Industry June (London & Cambridge Econ. Bull.) p. i/1 The key factor in an assessment of the economic position and prospects of the country is Mr. Amory's Budget.
1970 Physics Bull. Nov. 493/1 Two ideas were key in the discovery of the kinoform.
1995 N.Y. Times 27 Aug. 34/3 The fact I was a judge gave me credibility with the Haitians... It was absolutely key.
2001 B. Geddes World Food: Caribbean 63 Herbs & spices still play a key role in the character of Caribbean cuisine.

Phrases

P1. under key: = under lock and key at lock n.2 Phrases 1. Frequently in to keep under key.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > in confinement [phrase]
in mewa1375
under keya1393
under lock and key1585
behind bars1951
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 1834 (MED) The Priest Thoas..the Palladion of Troie Kepte under keie.
a1425 (?a1350) Gospel of Nicodemus (Harl.) (1907) l. 831 Yhe keped him vnder kay [rhymes yhisterday, oway, may].
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iii. l. 4314 His cofres cloos be shet so vndir keye.
a1542 T. Wyatt Coll. Poems (1969) ccx. 15 What vailith undre kaye To kepe treasure alwaye, That never shall se daye?
1597 R. Tofte tr. L. Ariosto Two Tales ii. sig. Mv Such iewels and gold, as he had vnder key.
1651 J. Saint-Amard tr. F. Micanzio Life Father Paul sig. G6 He..kept under key all his life long even to the least bolletines and short notes that he made.
1715 R. Bentley Serm. Popery 27 The whole Warehouse, now kept under Key, will again be set wide open.
1793 Archaeologia 11 131 It was as requisite to keep the holy as the baptismal water under key.
1862 C. E. Wilbour tr. V. Hugo Les Misérables ix. 125/2 She had in a closet, under key, a mysterious object, which she cherished very highly.
1869 Solicitors' Jrnl. & Reporter 31 July 813/2 And you ask a witness to produce those documents, which are under key in another man's house?
1910 Amer. Tyler-Keystone 20 June 552/1 Religion is not something to be kept under key all week, then to be brought out and brushed up for Sunday.
1993 R. Lourie tr. H. Grynberg Victory in Jewish War & Victory (2001) i. 85 My little drawer is kept under key.
P2. the king's keys: implements for forcing open a door, as used by officials with a legal right to do so; the right to open a door in this way. Now rare.
ΚΠ
a1475 Sir Gawain & Carl Carlisle (1951) l. 203 (MED) The kyngus keyis woll we tane And draw hem doun cleyn.
1679 J. Somerville Memorie Somervilles (1815) II. 396 Cambusnethen persists in his resolutione, and myndes to make use of the king's keyes, if the kirk-warden refuise to delyver the keyes.
1761 J. Lauder Decisions Lords of Council & Session 1678–1712 II. 577 The messenger makes the king's keys to the doors.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. vi. 194 Constables..considered as worthy to use what are called the King's keys.
1904 Everybody's Mag. July 41/1 The missionaries rescued a few girls from brothels by force and the ‘king's keys’.
1992 F. R. P. Akehurst tr. P. de Beaumanoir Coutumes de Beauvaisis liv. 580 The ‘king's keys’ should be used, which means that the officer who is going to make the seizure on the order of the lord can and should break into what is closed against him.
†P3.
key of the foot n. Falconry Obsolete rare one of the principal claws of a hawk's foot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > hawk > parts of > toe or claw
pouncea1475
key of the foot1486
single1486
stretcher1486
pounce joint1614
pouncer1704
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. aviij Understond ye also that the longe Senclees be calde the key of the fote, or the Closer. For what thyng som euer it be yt yowre hawke strenyth: open that Sengle, and all the fote is oppen, for the strength ther of fortyfieth all the fote.
P4. Kit has lost her key: see Kit n.4 1.
P5. as cold as a key: extremely cold; (figurative) devoid of warmth or feeling; = key-cold adj.
ΚΠ
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. l. 244 (MED) Ther was nevere keie..More inly cold than I am al.]
1542 Dyalogue Defensyue for Women sig. B.ii Women in theyr nature, be colde as a kay.
?1553 (c1501) G. Douglas Palice of Honour (London) i. l. 674 in Shorter Poems (1967) 48 Wyth quakand voce and hart cald as a key [rhymes fey, pley, etc.].
a1598 A. Montgomerie Poems (2000) I. 120 [Ker MS] My lyfe..from my body fled And left my Corps als cold as ony Kie [rhymes thee, ee, thrie].
1702 G. Farquhar Inconstant iv. 55 Till they be cold as a Key, there's no trusting them.
1833 H. Smith Gale Middleton I. vii. 153 His mug and his mauley are as cold as a key.
1905 Good Words 46 148/2 I'm very hot, too, that comes of racing with wrens in this weather, but wait a minute and you'll be as cold as a key.
1982 G. Ewart Coll. Poems (1991) i. 33 As warm as a wasp's nest, As cold as a key, That is the way, That is the worrying way You've been to me.
P6. to put (also lay, leave, etc.) the key under the door: to quit a house, premises, or employment, esp. with unpaid debts; to cease residing or working in a place. [In later use chiefly in translations from French, after French mettre la clef sous la porte.]
ΚΠ
1548 N. Lesse Apol. or Def. Worde of God in tr. P. Melanchthon Iustif. Man by Faith Only f. lxxxivv The pore tenantes or theyr yeres be halfe expyred shall be glad to lay the keye vnder the dore and runne theyr wayes.
?1576 A. Hall Let. touchyng Priuate Quarell sig. F.ii Such seldome sights of that comfortable gentleman Maister Phebus would make a man lay the key vnder the dore.
1677 A. Yarranton England's Improvem. 126 The Tenant lays the Key under the Door.
1724 J. Swift Let. to Shop-keepers of Ireland (new ed.) 15 The Shop-keeper will advance his Goods accordingly or else he must break and leave the Key under the Door.
1729 T. Sheridan Answere to Christmas-box 7 By squand'ring his Mony in Dribs to the poor, He's ready to leave the key under the door.
1800 J. J. J. Aimé Narr. Deportation to Cayenne 51 If the gendarmerie did not bring us some deported persons, we must put the key under the door.
1898 F. Lees tr. P. Margueritte & V. Margueritte Disaster vi. iv. 380 I thought that Jarras had put the key under the door?
1919 Belgian Bull. 2 Jan. 2/1 Spontaneously, with a unanimous movement..all locked their presses and put the key under the door.
1999 N. le Feuvre in R. Crompton Restructuring Gender Relations & Employment viii. 173 I say to myself that if I really get fed-up, I can put the key under the door.
P7. key and book (also Bible) and variants: a key and a Bible (or other book) used for divination. Now historical.This method of divination involved observing the turning of a key placed on a Bible, or the turning of a Bible suspended from a key.
ΚΠ
1619 T. Gataker Of Nature & Use Lots xi. 315 The finding out of a Theife by a key and a booke, or a paire of sheeres and a siue.
1637 F. Rous Archæologia Atticæ vi. 51 To take councell of an hatchet, taking it & laying it on a peece of timber flatwaies, which did the feat by turning round. Like to which is that naughty use of a key and Bible.
1704 Athenian Oracle III. 139 Finding out Thieves by the Turn of the Key and Bible.
1853 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 2 July 14/2 In a subsequent communication, M. P. R. gave the following, as a book-and-key experiment.
1880 W. Jones Credulities Past & Present v. 228 She and her neighbours, after a consultation, agreed to have recourse to the key and Bible to discover the thief.
1900 A. M. Earle Stage Coach & Tavern Days vii. 157 Divination by Bible and key has ever been as universal in America as in England.
1999 R. E. Guiley Encycl. Witches & Witchcraft (ed. 2) 21/1 A method of Bibliomancy to determine guilt in a crime was the ‘key and book’ method, still used in some rural parts of Britain as late as the 19th century.
P8. to hold (also have) the keys of: to have in one's control or power, to have authority over. Cf. sense A. 3b.
ΚΠ
1625 R. Marshe Serm. Consecration Richard Senhouse 27 Some should have the keyes of discipline, to see that holy things be not cast to Dogs.
1741 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 496/2 Paying court to a female favourite, who at that time held the keys of promotion.
1870 J. K. Medbery Men & Myst. Wall St. 11 Its loan market holds the keys of trade.
1913 A. L. Benson Truth about Socialism xi. 179 We feel that the capitalists have the keys of our happiness.
1922 D. H. Lawrence England my England 234 She would follow her own way just the same. She would always hold the keys of her own situation.
2010 N. Capponi Unlikely Prince vi. 89 These were the same people who ultimately held the keys of his employment.
P9.
a. to lock (a thing) up and throw away the key and variants: to consign (a thing) to oblivion; to abandon and forget; to confine permanently. Frequently as part of an extended metaphor.
ΚΠ
a1655 S. Simpson Not going to Christ viii. 73 in Two Bks. (1658) When God brings him [sc. a man] into his treasury, for him to lock it up, and to throw away the key, as it were, and to make himself rich in the things of this life... is a great sin.
1790 E. Tatham Chart & Scale Truth I. xv. 353 Aristotle locked up the temple of Knowledge and threw away the key, which, in the..veneration of his authority, was lost for many ages.
1867 N.Y. Times 12 Apr. 2/2 They should shut up sectionalism in their darkest and strongest cellar and throw away the key.
1889 A. Sergeant Under False Pretences xl. 331 I have locked up my lesson books and thrown away the key.
1927 R. A. Taylor Leonardo the Florentine i. v. 51 It is as if..he had..put his secret soul in prison and thrown away the key.
2002 Mercury (Hobart) (Nexis) 27 Apr. Locking up an area of land and trees and throwing away the key is not the answer to maintaining conservation values.
b. Originally U.S. to lock (a person) up and throw away the key and variants: to commit (a person) to prison, esp. for life; to punish severely for a crime. Also simply to throw away the key.
ΚΠ
1908 Washington Post 21 June 4/2 In Europe they round up the masses and lock them in the corral and throw away the key.
1911 N.Y. Times 7 Dec. 4/3 If Gompers is arrested on this contempt charge..it will be in the interest of organized labor—decent labor—to lock him up and throw away the key.
1949 S. Kingsley Detective Story i. 35 We're gonna get the D.A. to throw away the key.
1982 R. L. Woodson in J. A. Meyer Meeting Human Needs iv. 407 As a result of past failures to reach these youths, a consensus appears to be forming toward hard-core offenders—to ‘lock them up and throw away the key’.
1996 Times 26 Apr. 3/2 I'd say ‘Throw away the key’ if I thought he'd done it.
2003 N.Y. Mag. 17 Nov. 14/1 Enough with liberal guilt; let's just lock 'em up and throw away the key!
c. (lock-them-up-and-)throw-away-the-key: designating an approach to law enforcement characterized by the imposition of severe penalties, esp. long custodial sentences, for many offences; relating to or advocating such an approach.
ΚΠ
1969 Greeley (Colorado) Daily Tribune 26 May 4/4 Society is wasting its time keeping these people locked up, unless, of course, it chooses to treat first offenders on a throw-away-the-key-basis.
1978 Contemp. Sociol. 7 579 They ascribe such limited prospects for a ‘lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key’ policy to the small proportion of violent crimes cleared by arrest or conviction.
1997 New Yorker 24 Feb. 70 The throw-away-the-key fever really took off in 1988.
2001 Nation (N.Y.) 8 Jan. 16/2 When you start passing throw-away-the-key bills, you're effectively eliminating the death penalty.
P10. slang. to have the key of the street and variants: to be shut out for the night, to have no home to go to.
ΚΠ
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xlvi. 499 It's too late now. You can't get in to-night; you've got the key of the street, my friend.
1894 G. Parker Transl. Savage 161 A crossing sweeper early to his task, or holding the key of the street.
1929 E. Paul & C. Paul tr. H. de Man Joy in Work vi. 213 The wage worker knows that from day to day or from week to week he may be given the key of the street.
1969 W. H. Auden City without Walls 11 A key to the street each convict has.
1992 K. Roberts Kaeti on Tour 161 The key of the street, that's what she'd be getting.
P11.
a. out of key: off-key, with inaccurate pitch; (figurative) out of harmony, not in agreement (with something else). Cf. out-of-key adj. at out of prep. Compounds 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > unsuitability or inappropriateness > unsuitable or inappropriate [phrase]
out of the waya1450
out of my (your, etc.) way1555
out of place1560
in (or out of) one's line1886
out of key1920
1725 G. Odingsells Bath Unmask'd i. iii. 9 L. Wisem. Cruel! Spri. Insolent! L. Wisem. Charming! Spri. Hold hold my Lord!—quite out of key and tune.—Let me set you right again.—Libertine!
1837 Knickerbocker July 52 I never saw an unpleasing expression upon the face of this gentleman, except when some one of the choir got out of key in church.
1887 Bk. News Aug. 410/2 The reply was out of key with the placid mood in which the conversation had hitherto been conducted.
1920 E. Pound Hugh Selwyn Mauberley i. 9 For three years, out of key with his time, He strove to resuscitate the dead art Of poetry.
1934 H. G. Wells Exper. in Autobiogr. II. vii. 489 That was entirely out of key with James's assumptions.
1989 Sound Choice Autumn 49/1 Many chords contain a certain ‘wrongness’ without being out of key.
2005 D. Cowie Owen Noone & Marauder 43 The lyrics, sung out of key by Noone, were anachronistic.
b. in key: in tune, with accurate pitch; (figurative) in harmony or agreement (with something else).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > in agreement or harmony (with) [phrase]
in onea1400
according1523
in unison1604
of a piece1607
in concert1618
in consort1634
in tone1647
at unison1661
of a piece with1665
true1735
in suit with1797
in harmony1816
of a suit with1886
in tune1887
in key1919
tuned in1958
all-of-a-piece1960
1834 ‘P. Reedpen’ Our Town II. 171 I dare say you would like to have a good deal of music, and I should be hardly in key.
1881 Brit. Architect 23 Sept. 473/2 The tone of the comedy was not at all in key with the habits and thoughts of an English audience.
1919 B. Ruck Disturbing Charm ii. xiv. 287 Everything in that drawing-room was in key with that mantelpiece.
1963 N. Coward Diary 17 Mar. (2000) 530 The few lines they have had to interpolate are completely in key.
1994 Guitarist Sept. 117/1 With the past two albums..I took the time to purposely play in key.
†P12.
key of the sea n. Obsolete rare the pelican's foot shell, Aporrhais pespelecani.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Holostomata > member of family Aporrhaidae
pelican's foot1815
key of the sea1854
1854 Zoologist 12 4425 Aporrhais pes-pelecani..This common shell is popularly known as the ‘key of the sea’.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.
a. (In sense A. 1a.)
key basket n.
ΚΠ
1827 Correspondent 3 Mar. 91/2 The ex-brother fixed his eye on the key-basket of the Superior, and, yielding no doubt to Satanic influence, took one of the keys.
1889 Cent. Mag. Apr. 841/1 A mob-cap covering her gray hair, and key-basket in hand.
2006 Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) (Nexis) 26 Aug. b10 The trouble with a key basket is that it will hold enough other junk to make your keys hard to find.
key rack n.
ΚΠ
1856 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 6 Oct. Superior Iron Safe, Key Rack.
1882 R. L. Stevenson New Arabian Nights II. 186 The landlord..rose from a business table under the key-rack.
1999 Chicago Tribune 22 Feb. ii. 3/1 We have a key rack next to the front door that holds five sets.
key safe n.
ΚΠ
1900 Rep. Commissioners Prisons 50 in Parl. Papers (Cd. 380) XLI. 1 A key safe has been provided for the female prison.
1905 To-day 21 June 238/2 There's only one key in the key-safe,..the renter's key.
2011 Plymouth Herald (Nexis) 16 Dec. 9 She allegedly made a false complaint..that a key had been stolen from a key safe.
b. (In sense A. 5.)
key book n.
ΚΠ
1806 Anti-Jacobin Rev. & Mag. Feb. 133 They proceed in a mechanical way by means of key-books, which they are required to follow exactly.
1826 E. Irving Babylon I. i. 54 These two key-books [sc. Daniel and Revelations] and the treasure-books, which they unlock.
2002 S. J. Cannell Viking Funeral xix. 116 I think I maybe found the code they're using. It's a key book.
key cipher n.
ΚΠ
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Qq1 The kindes of Cyphars..are many, according to the Nature or Rule of the infoulding: Wheele-Cyphars, Kay-Cyphars, Dovbles, &c. View more context for this quotation
1867 Proc. Royal Irish Acad. 1864–6 9 166 They are all..resolvable into the original key-cipher.
1901 L. L. Pimenoff-Noble & E. Noble Before Dawn xiv. 252 Platónov copied out each row of figures, and wrote under them his key cipher.
2001 D. Pirie Patient's Eyes (2007) 129 In that kind of key cipher..what the creator does is to utilise an entire manuscript and number each word.
key list n.
ΚΠ
1845 W. B. Fowle & A. Fitz Elem. Geogr. for Mass. Children i. 28 Let each pupil have his map, but do not let him refer to the key-lists while he is reciting.
2008 S. C. Jersey Hell's Islands x. 187 Station NGK, using a hand-operated paper-strip cipher system and key lists, took over the radio guard for all message traffic.
key map n.
ΚΠ
1816 J. Melish Geogr. Descr. U.S. 13 A key map to the local maps of the several states and territories.
1895 Bookman Oct. 26/2 Single page plans of small districts on a fair scale with a key-map for reference.
2000 G. C. McIntosh Piri Reis Map of 1513 iii. 22 (caption) Figure 7. Key map of place-names in South America.
c. (In sense A. 12a.)
key beam n.
ΚΠ
1849 Gen. Descr. Britannia & Conway Tubular Bridges 27 These key-beams are each twenty-four feet long by four feet high, and weigh eleven tons.
1865 R. Hunt Pop. Romances West of Eng. (1st Ser.) 107 They were playing all sorts of pranks on the key-beams and rafters.
2009 C. Kostick Siege of Jerusalem 21 The key beams were dislodged from their bindings and the entire structure collapsed.
key pile n.
ΚΠ
1839 W. Turnbull Let. 31 Dec. in Rep. Secretary of War 21 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (1841) (26th Congr., 2nd Sess.: Senate Doc. 718) IV A wedge, or key-pile, in the centre of each panel.
2003 M. Puller Deep Excavations (ed. 2) vi. 256 Additional key piles may be needed to stiffen the sheeting during pitching and subsequent driving.
d. (In senses A. 17 and A. 18.)
key centre n.
ΚΠ
1909 J. Klauser Nature of Music v. 220 These bytones..shift the key-centre and change the mode from minor to major.
1940 Scrutiny Sept. 122 Without establishing a key-centre the fluctuating basses eventually soar..into another homophonic passage.
2002 N.Y. Times 2 June ii. 27/2 Many passages anchor 12-tone melodies on sustained pedal tones that establish a point of reference if not a key center.
key change n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > key > alteration from prevailing key
changingc1475
change1574
modulation1696
key change1877
transition1877
1877 H. Sweet Handbk. Phonetics iii. 96 Progressive change of key is indicated by prefixing / or \\ to the signs of key-change.
1885 Folio July 9/3 Note-reading, key-changes, and other rudimental matters.
1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene 115 The free and continual key changes.
1973 J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 175 He rippled through a key-change bridge passage, then moved into the beat.
2008 Liverpool Echo (Nexis) 24 May 27 Extra points are always awarded for flag waving, peasant outfits, explosions,..and the obligatory key change. It simply wouldn't be Eurovision without these staples.
key relationship n.
ΚΠ
1848 J. Curwen Singing for Schools & Congregations (ed. 2) p. xx But this principle of key-relationship, so essential for the practice of ‘Interval’, is the very thing which is rendered the least obvious in the Old Notation.
1881 J. Broadhouse Student's Helmholtz 371 So many stumbling-blocks, in the way of understanding key-relationship.
2006 Jrnl. Aesthetic Educ. 40 7 A freer multi-movement form in which pieces are linked thematically in terms of key relationships.
key system n.
ΚΠ
1873 W. K. Sullivan in E. O'Curry On Manners & Customs Anc. Irish I. Introd. p. dcxv He has not scrupled to employ all the apparatus of the modern key system.
1934 C. Lambert Music Ho! i. 28 His [sc. Debussy's] destruction of the key-system.
2002 New German Critique 86 66 The key system imposes oppressive limits on subjective expression.
key tonality n.
ΚΠ
1874 Choir 17 Oct. 241/1 Old devices of counterpoint were not imcompatible [sic] with modern key-tonality.
1879 J. Stainer Music of Bible 164 The different versions begin and end in the same key-tonality.
2005 W. A. Sethares Tuning, Timbre, Spectrum, Scale (ed. 2) xi. 232 There is no difference between various musical keys, there are no restrictions on modulation, and key tonality is not a significant structure in music.
C2. Parasynthetic.
† key-headed adj. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1854 C. Forster Monuments Assyria in One Primeval Lang. 13 Clavi-formed or nail-headed, cludi-formed or key-headed, cunei-form or wedge-shaped.
1904 Patents for Inventions: Abridg. Specif. Class 86 1867–76 73 The head is formed hollow, and the back of it with a hole corresponding to the key-headed shank.
C3. Many of the formations listed here are compounds of the noun, but some may alternatively be interpreted as compounds of the adjective.
key action n. Music the mechanism by which sounds are produced in keyboard instruments; the action of such an instrument's keys.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > [noun] > mechanism
mechanism1834
piano action1853
pianoforte action1856
key action1857
1857 Dwight's Jrnl. Music 10 Oct. 236/1 The prompt yet silent working of the pedal and key action.
1880 C. A. Edwards Organs ii. vi. 67 (heading) Key Action.
2009 H. Pinksterboer Tipbk. Keyboard & Digital Piano (ed. 2) v. 40 You'll find that the key action may feel very different from one keyboard to another, or from one piano to another.
key bed n. (a) Mechanics = keyway n. (a) (now rare); (b) Geology = marker bed n. (a) at marker n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > shaft > [noun] > parts of > key > part on which key rests
key bed1835
key seat1843
1835 Repertory Patent Inventions 4 324 On this projecting part is a longitudinal rib or key fitting into a key bed.
1903 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 11 764 After its stratigraphic position has been definitely fixed in a number of exposures, it becomes a key bed to the whole series.
1923 Locomotive Apr. 165 The key was fitted so that it pressed hard on the top of the key bed in the coupling.
1967 Jrnl. Paleontol. 41 176/2 Successful correlation of the Gray-red bentonite bed would establish a most helpful key bed in interpreting the biofacies.
2007 G. R. Thompson & J. Turk Earth Sci. & Environment (ed. 4) iv. 84/1 The thin, sooty, iridium-rich clay layer deposited 65 million years ago from debris of a giant meteorite impact..is a classic example of a key bed.
key bit n. the part of a key that engages with the lever of a lock; = bit n.1 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > key > parts of key > bit
bit1644
key bit1699
web1754
1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. Key-bit, paneton.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 142 By turning the handle, the key-bit..is brought into contact with the works of the lock, so as to shoot and withdraw the bolt.
2007 G. W. Pulford High-security Mech. Locks v. 378 In mortice locks designed to be operated from either side of the door, the center step of the key bit operates the bolt.
key bolt n. Mechanics a bolt which is secured by a key or cotter, rather than by a thread and nut.
ΚΠ
?1740 P. Bouguer Relation Observ. Quito 34 The several parts were held together by screws and key-bolts.
1800 J. Williams tr. H. O. Scheel Treat. Artillery i. 35 The trunnion plates are grooved to receive the chin of the second bolt. The forward one is the key-bolt, preferable in this place to the skrew.
1840 Mechanics' Mag. 8 Feb. 330/1 The connexion between the strings, main and counter braces, may be effected by means of keybolts of suitable size.
2003 R. Rocco In Owl's Eye vi. 21 The easiest way to do this, he thought, would be to saw through the tongue from the bottom and at the point of the key bolt.
key-bone n. (a) the clavicle (now rare); (b) a bone that occupies a place or serves a function resembling that of the keystone of an arch.
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the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > types of bones > [noun]
ossicle1578
ossiculum1578
sucking-bone1648
master-bone1677
key-bone1791
bonelet1833
bladelet1859
interhaemal1880
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > collarbone > [noun]
cannel-bonea1325
collara1475
shears1503
furcule?1541
channel-bone1587
clavicle1615
collarbone1615
patel1615
cane1621
jugulum1706
cannon bone1730
key-bone1791
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. v. 171 One with his huge falchion smote Fast by the key-bone.
1836–9 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. II. 506/2 This bone is..principally characterized by its excess in size over the other carpal bones, and from the number of bones with which it is connected, it may be regarded as the key-bone of the carpus.
1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 206 The spine of the parietal vertebra..completes the neural arch, as its crown or key-bone.
1939 G. B. Bridgman Human Machine 143 The leg bones rest on the arch where it articulates with the astragalus, the key-bone or keystone of the arch.
2003 E. von Kuehnelt-Leddihn in H.-H. Hoppe Myth National Def. iii. 105 Could one imagine..Francis Joseph using a thighbone of a Prussian grenadier as a paper-knife? Or Queen Victoria in such a delicate way the key-bone of a Boer sharpshooter?
key box n. (a) Music a box-like compartment on various musical instruments in which the keys are housed; (b) a box, cabinet, or case in which keys are kept.
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1786 Morning Herald 29 Dec. 1/2 Guitars..divested of that awkward appearance which the temporary key box forms on the belly of the instrument.
1838 Age 29 July 233/3 (advt.) Key boxes, in morocco, lined with velvet and wadded, 12s. 6d.
1888 Musical World 27 Oct. 832/1 The keybox [of an organ], which is a marvel of compactness, will extend downward to the basement floor beneath.
1904 F. Lynde Grafters xx. 264 Kent found a note in his key-box at the Clarendon.
1995 R. A. Green Hurdy-gurdy in 18th-cent. France iii. 56 The vielle has six strings. Two are melody strings which run through the key box on top of the instrument.
2000 L. Ruby Soon be Free (2002) xxiii. 107 The key box opened with such force that keys flew off their hooks and clattered against the wall.
† key-check n. Music Obsolete rare (a) a piece of wood on either side of a keyboard, to which the pin rails are fastened; (b) = check n.1 10d.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [noun] > pianoforte > hammer > device for holding it after striking
key-check1855
check1879
tape-check1929
1855 E. J. Hopkins Organ x. 45 These two rails are strongly united to two pieces of wood, called key-checks.
1882 Cassell's Encycl. Dict. II. i. 168/3 A projection called a key-check was fixed on the end of the key to catch the end of the hammer as it fell, and prevent it from rising.
key chord n. Music a chord having a keynote as its root; = tonic chord at tonic adj. 3a.
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?1775 J. C. Heck Short Instr. for learning Thorough Bass 12 The Key Chord both above and below has its own proper Chord.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 250/1 C, E, G is the key-chord of C.
1998 Early Music 26 679/2 Is it really necessary to add a minim D minor chord at the end of bar 6..when the key chord has already been more than generously established?
† key clock n. Obsolete rare (probably) a pine cone; cf. clock n.1 8.
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1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 95 The Pine..is planted not muche vnlike to the Almond, the kernelles of the key clocks being set as the Almond is.
key-clog n. a piece of wood tied to a key to prevent it from being easily lost.In later use only with reference to the work cited in quot. c1450.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > key > devices to prevent loss of keys
key band1446
key-clogc1450
key chain1652
key ring1743
keyholder1837
c1450 (c1400) Sowdon of Babylon (1881) l. 1603 (MED) With the keye cloge..Such a stroke she hym ther raught, The brayne sterte oute of his hede.
c1555 R. Smith Let. in J. Foxe Actes & Monuments (1563) 1267/1 I haue sent you a keyclog for a token.
1632 T. E. Lawes Womens Rights 19 She is able..to have the key clog at her girdle.
1736 R. Ainsworth Thes. Linguæ Latinæ I. (at cited word) A key clog, tigillum clavi affixum.
1805 G. Ellis Specimens Early Eng. Romances II. 381 The active princess..seized the key-clog which hung from his shoulder.
1999 M. Kahf Western Representations of Muslim Woman ii. 35 The Sultan..forgives her for smashing the jailer's skull with a key-clog.
key colour n. the dominant or base colour in a picture or colour scheme.
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1838 J. Clark Elem. Drawing & Painting in Water Colours 4 A leading or key-colour gives the tone to a picture.
1997 A. Stoddard Decoration of Houses (2002) xi. 263 Be careful that the key color you choose lends itself to complementary shades and hues.
key course n. Building and Architecture (now rare) a course containing a keystone or consisting of keystones.
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1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 41 The middle of the Key-course will be the middle of the Arch.
1835 Penny Cycl. III. 485/2 A stone high up in the arch (for instance, a part of the key-course).
1977 C. M. Harris Hist. Archit. Sourcebk. 315/2 Key course, a course of keystones in an arch; used in a deep archway where a single keystone will not suffice.
key cutter n. (a) a person who cuts piano keys from larger pieces of ivory (obsolete); (b) a device or machine for cutting keys from metal; (c) a person whose occupation is cutting keys; a shop or business at which keys may be cut.
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1842 Penny Mag. Monthly Suppl. Apr. 173/2 (caption) Key-cutter at work.
1878 Bristol Mercury 21 Feb. 4/3 (advt.) Situation Wanted, by a young Man, as Key-cutter and Locksmith.
1912 Pop. Mech. Sept. 161/1 (advt.) The ‘American’ Key-Cutter..—the only machine for cutting Keys with either square or any other shape slots.
1973 R. L. Robinson Compl. Course in Professional Locksmithing (1983) 227/1 Key cutters of the side milling type..may be used to produce lever cuts,..or cylinder key cuts.
2012 Northern Echo (Nexis) 19 Mar. 33 The five-generation family business is the country's largest shoe repairer, key cutter, engraver and watch repairer.
key desk n. Music a case enclosing the keys and stops of an organ; = console n. 3a.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > organ > [noun] > console
key desk1854
console1880
1854 Dwight's Jrnl. Music 9 Dec. 75/1 The key desk will be in the large square corner pew on the left side.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 21 Jan. 4/2 The console or key-desk is movable.
2004 R. Smith Stokowski & Organ ii. 34 The pedalboard was hinged so that it could be folded up and hooked to the key desk.
† key-dovetailing n. Joinery Obsolete rare a method of joining two pieces of wood by means of a key in the form of a dovetail.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > wooden structures or wooden parts of > means of fitting together > methods of
mortising1589
notching1599
scarfing1644
tabulation1658
mitringc1664
tenoning1678
dovetailing1703
cocking1710
tabling1717
cogging1823
foxtail-wedging1825
mitre dovetailing1825
halving1842
key-dovetailing1847
boxing1874
1847 A. C. Smeaton Builder's Pocket Man. (new ed.) 90 The first method..is called, amongst workmen, keying together; the second..key-dovetailing.
key drop n. †(a) a keyhole guard which rotates about a pivot above the keyhole (obsolete rare); (b) (esp. in a hotel) a secure box in which keys can be deposited in the absence of a member of staff.
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1857 N.Y. Herald 19 Feb. 7/1 (advt.) A stock of porcelain goods, embracing clock fronts, clock dials, door and drawer knobs, key drops, &c.
1980 Washington Post 14 Feb. (Maryland Weekly section) 10/4 (advt.) Our [car repair] Service Department now offers self-service write-up for before or after hours with instruction envelope and key drop.
1992 J. Wheatcroft Killer Swan 25 A counter with a key drop in it.
2011 S. Sparling Wire to Wire ix. 105 The service window was dark; beneath it, a wooden box was fixed to the wall—a key drop.
key escrow n. Cryptography the holding, by an independent agency, of decryption keys to encrypted data, for controlled access by authorized people (frequently attributive); a system of encryption involving this; cf. Clipper n.3
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1993 N.Y. Times 17 Apr. i. 36/3 Clipper would have two keys and..they would be kept separate in two ‘key-escrow’ data bases to be established by the Attorney General.
1994 Internet World July 92/3 To understand how the chip works, you need to look at what officials call its key escrow encryption method.
2003 P. Todd & J. Bloch Global Issues ii. 52 A further measure proposed was ‘key escrow’—the holding of encryption keys in a secure storage which could be accessed by court order. Both of these measures were strongly resisted by the US business community.
† key-fastener n. Obsolete (a) a device for fastening a key in a door lock so that it cannot be turned or pushed out from the other side; †(b) a wedge securing the breechblock of a gun (rare).
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1861 E. H. Bailey U.S. Patent 31,939 1 Key Fastener... My invention consists of a device..for so securing the keys of locks to the handles of the same, that the locks cannot be picked through the key-holes on the outside of the door.
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 256 Another modification of the grip-fastener is the key-fastener.
1916 Illustr. World Nov. 444/1 A novel key-fastener for preventing any person outside from inserting a wire and turning the key after the door is locked.
key field n. Computing a field or set of fields in a database which constitutes a unique identifier for a record.
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1963 Adv. in Electronics & Electron Physics 18 53 The utility and cost of a content-addressed memory are greater if the key field can lie anywhere in each word.
1986 InfoWorld 6 Oct. 55/4 We encountered several difficulties trying to add a key field to a database containing data.
2007 N. Conner Quickbase iii. 103 Even if two Sara Smiths work for your company, each Sara has her own Employee ID number. So this number makes a good—and meaningful—key field.
key file n. a thin flat file for filing incisions in keys; a warding file.
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1846 Hilpert's Englisch-Deutsches u. Deutsch-Englisches Wörterbuch II. 486/2 Key-file.
1870 H. M. Hart Elem. Chem. iv. 23 Take a key file..and make a mark across the tube with the edge of the file.
1995 J. E. Rathjen Locksmithing vi. 52 Locksmiths must know how to duplicate keys by using a key file.
key fob n. a tab or decorative object attached to a key chain or key ring; (now) spec. a device for initiating electronic processes remotely, esp. locking or unlocking a vehicle.
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1912 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily News 12 July 17/4 Lost—Kappa Alpha Key fob, marked ‘W. Hoagland’.
1965 Billboard 7 Apr. 123/3 (advt.) Snake key fobs with round or clover disc.
1982 Pop. Mech. Oct. 201/1 The Infrawave Locking System gives you a key fob with a tiny battery inside it. When you point the fob at the car and push a button..solenoids lock or unlock the doors.
1998 T. Wolfe Man in Full xi. 270 The huge bare flaccid arms, the enormous ruff of keys protruding from his belt, the novelty key fobs.
2009 Liverpool Echo (Nexis) 31 Jan. 12 He..used the key fob to turn off the alarm and sneak into the premises in the middle of the night.
key fruit n. Botany = sense A. 13.
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > [noun] > indehiscent fruit or achene
key1440
samara1577
achenium1819
achene1825
caryopsis1830
key fruit1849
tetrachaenium1856
cremocarp1861
Cypsela1861
achaenocarp1874
triachaenium1882
pseudospermium1890
1849 A. Gray Genera Floræ Americæ II. 150 The winged key-fruit..resembles that of the Elm.
1919 I. N. McFee Tree Bk. vii. 61 Slowly the stem lengthens and shortly two crimson-winged key fruits, or samaras, swing gracefully where once the little pistillate flower bloomed.
2000 D. Briggs & S. M. Walters Plant Variation & Evol. (ed. 3) 1 Pinnate leaves are correlated with opposite arrangement and a winged 'key' fruit in Ash.
key grip n. originally U.S. the technician in a film or television crew who acts as chief of the grips (grip n.1 Additions), typically assuming primary responsibility for the adjustment and maintenance of production equipment on the set, esp. the camera tracks and dollies.
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1952 Billboard 14 June 13/3 Prop shopper, best boy, key grip [etc.].
1984 S. King Thinner (1985) xviii. 168 He had a feeling that he could look behind things and see the lights, the cameras, the key grips, and some unimaginable ‘real world’.
2001 D. Mitchell Number 9 Dream 362 The movie finishes and the audience files out. I stay and watch the credits. The key grips, the animal trainers, the caterers.
key groove n. Mechanics = keyway n. (a).
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1835 A. Ure Philos. Manuf. 21 The dexterous hands of the filer and driller are now superseded by the planing, the key-groove cutting, and the drilling machines.
1868 W. H. Northcott Treat. Lathes & Turning 177 All the cutters should be made with the same sized hole and key groove.
1909 Motor Age 17 June 40/1 The key-grooves in the shaft and wheel are dressed down until perfect contact occurs between key and groove throughout their entire length.
2007 M. Narazaki & G. E. Totten in G. E. Totten Steel Heat Treatm. (ed. 2) x. 626 One of techniques for design symmetry is to add dummy holes, key grooves, or other shapes to steel parts.
† key gun n. Obsolete (a) a key likened to a gun; (b) a small pistol formed from a key with a hollow shank filled with gunpowder; cf. key pistol n.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > pistol > types of
dag1587
key gun1607
pocket pistol1612
key pistol1663
holster-pistol1679
troop pistol1688
horse pistol1704
screw-barrel1744
saddle pistol1764
air pistol1780
Wogdon1786
belt pistol1833
dueller1835
Colt1838
tickler1844
Derringer1853
cocking pistol1858
belt size1866
bulldozer1880
saloon pistol1899
Luger1904
Police Positive1905
Steyr1920
Saturday-night pistol1929
muff pistol1938
PPK1946
Makarov1958
Saturday-night special1959
puffer1963
snub nose1979
snubby1981
1607 ‘W. S.’ Puritaine i. sig. B Now keies, are your onely Guns, Key-guns, Key-guns, & Bawdes the Gunners.
a1652 R. Brome New Acad. iv. i. 66 in Five New Playes (1659) All my..tops, gigs, balls, cat and catsticks, pot guns, key guns, trunks, tillers, and all.
1673 Siege in W. Davenant Wks. i. 65/2 I hope he wears no charms About him, Key Guns or Pistols charg'd with White Powder.
1834 A. Watts New Year's Gift 5 We made key-guns by filing touch-holes in the backs of large keys, tying them to sticks, charging them with gun-powder, ramming it down with all our might, and letting it off with a fire-stick, or a hot cinder.
1905 A. Stringer Lonely O'Malley ix. 277 If you have never used or known a key gun, of course you cannot understand just how deadly it is.
key hammer n. (a) Music each of the hammers which strikes the strings in a piano; = hammer n.1 2f(b); †(b) a hammer for driving in keys (sense A. 12a) (obsolete).
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society > occupation and work > equipment > driving or beating tools > [noun] > hammer > other hammers
hand-hammereOE
maulc1225
plating hammer1543
bucker1653
axe-hammer1681
brick hammer1688
chipping hammer1783
tup1848
clinch-hammer1850
tack-hammer1865
bucking hammer1875
bloat1881
ringer1883
key hammer1884
peen hammer1885
straight pein1904
toffee hammer1958
1846 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1845 37 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (29th Congr., 1st Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 140) IV The first key hammer of the bass operates upon one, two, or more strings, a a, in the usual manner.
1884 Instr. Mil. Engin. (ed. 3) I. ii. 59 The tools required are..1 rammer, 1 key-hammer, 2 beaters.
1894 Standard 7 July 11/3 Ten doz. pickaxes and key hammers.
1900 E. Gray Nature's Miracles II. ix. 81 A certain string of the piano, called middle C, vibrates at the rate of 256 times per second when struck with the key-hammer corresponding to it.
2009 D. Chaytor It's not always Dark at Seven o'Clock 109 Tom Barber would lift the lid of the piano, stick drawing-pins into the key hammers, and I'd sit down and tinkle the ivories.
† keyherd n. Obsolete = key-bearer n.In quot. 1256 as a surname.
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the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > one who looks after > guardian or custodian > keeper of keys
keyherdeOE
key-keeper1473
claviger1606
keyholder1814
eOE Corpus Gloss. (1890) 33/1 Clauicularius, caeghiorde.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 193 (MED) Ðe heuenliche keiherde sainte peter iseih þat ure elderne hadden fele fon.
1256 in Eng. Stud. (1952) 33 18 Walt. le Keyhirde.
† key instrument n. Dentistry (Obsolete) an instrument for extracting teeth, consisting of a shaft with a transverse handle at one end and a pivoted claw, beak, or hook at right angles to it at the other; = sense A. 14d.
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the world > health and disease > healing > dentistry > [noun] > instruments for extracting teeth
tooth-iron1483
pelican1598
tooth-drawer1598
dog1611
snap1611
plychon1688
pullikins1688
screw pelican1688
tooth-wrest1706
pounce1742
key instrument1762
key1774
punch1826
tooth-key1827
tooth-forceps1844
turnkey1855
1762 Brit. Mag. Nov. 564/1 The key-instrument almost always breaks the external side of the socket.
1845 C. A. Harris Princ. & Pract. Dental Surg. (ed. 2) iii. iv. 276 The author has tried almost every variety of key-instruments that have been used in this country.
1922 Dental Digest Aug. 516 A few months ago a key instrument bearing the date 1824 was in use near Shanghai.
key light n. originally U.S. the main source of lighting in a photograph or film.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > action of taking photograph > technical factors > [noun] > type of light
raking light1857
contre-jour1921
key light1941
back-lighting1950
1941 Pop. Sci. Monthly June 208/2 Double source lights should be avoided... It is much better to use a single-source key light, with a back light high-lighting the hair.
1986 K. Malkiewicz Film Lighting (1992) iv. 92 (caption) The actress's profile is delineated by a rim light. Her key light comes from the right.
2006 HD/Studio (Nexis) 22 Aug. In addition to the key light, I use a back light at about 45 degrees to the subject's head and shoulders.
† key loader n. Obsolete rare a person employed to balance the wooden keys of a musical instrument by the insertion of lead pellets.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > making or fitting instruments > [noun] > instrument makers or fitters > keyboard maker or fitter
stringer1842
bellyman1845
key loader1886
1886 Reynolds's Newspaper 9 May 8/1 He had worked..as a key loader.
key lock n. a lock operated by a key, rather than a bolt or other device.
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1709 Cotton's Scarronnides (ed. 9) 3 And here in House with her own Key locks [1664 which her own key-locks], She us'd to keep her Coach and Peacocks.
1835 T. Mitchell Wasps of Aristophanes 52 Κατακλεὶς, a sort of lock or key-lock.
2006 J. Herbert Secret Crickley Hall (2007) xxvii. 205 He went to the hall's front door, which did have bolts top and bottom, although so far they had relied only on its key lock.
key log n. (a) a log which when removed or dislodged enables the loosening of a logjam; (b) Computing a record of every keystroke made by a user, typically produced by means of a keylogger.
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the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > lumbering > [noun] > transport of logs > log-jam > key-log
key log1838
1838 Farmers' Reg. Sept. 378/1 One of the most usual modes of work has been to place the laborers on the rail, who saw all key logs, or such as seemed most to confine others to their places.
1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail xxxii. 211 By pulling out or chopping through certain ‘key’ logs which locked the whole mass.
1992 Re: Limits on Use of Cryptogr.? in sci.crypt (Usenet newsgroup) 17 Nov. If the government were to regulate the use of cryptography.., keeping key logs could well be a condition for obtaining..a license.
2010 E. E. Brown Commerce Early Amer. Waterways ix. 171 The log drivers tried to find the key log which would break the jam, but failed.
2012 ReadWriteWeb (Nexis) 30 May When Flame retrieves data, be it key logs or screen shots, it uses high- and low-level encryption.
keylogger n. Computing a program or device for recording every keystroke made by a user; spec. one used to record passwords or other confidential information without the user's knowledge.
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1993 Re: Several Questions about Unix in comp.unix.questions (Usenet newsgroup) 17 Nov. Is there a way to switch off the keylogger without detonating alarms which are attached to it?
2000 E-mail Virus Protection Handbk. (Syngress Media) iv. 137 In order to implement a keylogger, a malicious user must have access to the target user's system.
2010 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 35/2 Search YouTube for videos on how to create ‘keyloggers’—the applications that will record every keystroke you type without your knowledge—and you'll find hundreds of ‘how-to’ guides.
keylogging n. Computing the recording of every keystroke made by a user, typically by means of a keylogger; frequently attributive.
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1993 Re: Summary of ST-Magazines (Paper/Disk) in comp.sys.atari.st (Usenet newsgroup) 15 Apr. Password protected key logging.
2000 S. A. Redick Windows Syst. Policy Editor v. 121 Keylogging programs can be used to record usernames and passwords.
2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 18 Feb. b8/3 Many PCs do not have important software fixes or security programs with current updates. They could even have physical keylogging devices fitted onto the back.
† key loke n. [ < key n.1 + Old English loca (see lock n.2)] Obsolete a lockable compartment or other enclosed space.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > lock > and key
key lokeOE
key and lockc1275
lock and key1413
OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. lxxvi. §1. 362 Butan hit under þæs wifes cæglocan [lOE Harl. cæglocum] gebroht wære, si heo clæne.
key maker n. a person who makes a key or keys (in various senses of the noun).
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?c1475 Catholicon Anglicum (BL Add. 15562) f. 68v A kay maker, clauicularius.
1772 C. Reeve in tr. J. Barclay Phoenix I. Pref. The key-makers could never find out exactly, whom the author designed by Archombrotus.
1893 J. H. Treat Treat Family 376 He was a key maker in the lock factory of Levis & McKee.
1914 Piano Mag. Feb. 94/2 The cause of such discoloration is not with the key maker.
2007 N. Pellegrini Beijing 33/2 Every neighbourhood has bicycle repairmen, tailors, cobblers, and key makers who work on the sidewalks.
key money n. an (illegal) payment made to a landlord, agent, or tenant, for the right to rent a property.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > hire or rent > rent (land or real property) > [noun] > initial payment by tenant
out-toll1283
gersum1389
warisonc1450
fine1804
key money1832
in-toll1872
ingoing1905
1832 J. A. Diezmann Vollständiges Taschenwörterbuch 113/2 Key-money.
1898 Daily News 19 Dec. 6/7 The rent was higher than was stated on the rent book and the key money exorbitant.
1906 Westm. Gaz. 28 Mar. 5/2 Some house-agents would still extort ‘key-money’ from tenants.
2006 New Yorker 5 June 34/1 I had to pay the previous tenant twenty-four thousand dollars in key money (as it's known in New York City) for the right to move in.
key-move n. Chess the first move in the solution of a problem (problem n. 5); = sense A. 7.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > move > type of move
neck1557
stroke1735
key1845
forced move1847
key-move1847
fianchetto1848
queening1860
pinning1900
mutate1922
valve1930
zwischenzug1941
1847 Illustr. London News 30 Oct. 283/1 The key move in Enigma 213 is, Kt takes P.
1878 S. Loyd Chess Strategy 60 Key-moves which threaten an easy mate.
2004 Chess Jan. 40/2 White's key-move must be a blockading move thus making sure that the Black King cannot ever move at all!
key movement n. Music the mechanism by which the keys of an organ operate the valves.
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1820 Q. Musical Mag. & Rev. 2 421 The several parts of an organ are the bellows,..the keys and key movement.
1880 C. A. Edwards Organs ii. vi. 67 (heading) The Claviers and Key Movement.
2006 P. Johnson Creators (2007) v. 88 The key action or Klavier and key movement, which the organist controlled directly.
key-operated adj. that is locked and unlocked by means of a key; (also of a device) operated by a key or keyboard.
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1886 Sci. Amer. 31 July 74/2 A lock wherein there are arranged a knob latch, a key-operated bolt, and a bolt operated by a cam-faced manipulating knob.
1890 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 11 Mar. 1407/1 Registering apparatus for key-operated machines.
1963 Financial Times 15 Oct. 17/4 A thief-proof feature is that the ordinary key-operated ignition is replaced by a safe-type combination lock.
1986 National Surv. Professional, Admin., Techn., & Clerical Pay (U.S. Dept. Labor) 84/2 [A] keyboard-controlled data entry device such as..key-operated magnetic tape or disc encoder.
1993 Collins Compl. DIY Man. (new ed.) iv. 249/1 A burglar only has to break a pane to reach the handle inside. Key-operated locks are essential to prevent a break-in.
keypal n. a person with whom a friendship is established and maintained mainly or exclusively by the exchange of emails; a penfriend with whom one communicates by email; cf. pen pal n.
ΚΠ
1991 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 13 Mar. a7/2 His students each paid $1.25 to a Finnish organization to set them up with pen-pals around the world, but are also hoping to communicate via computer with ‘key pals’ at a computer club in Vilnius, Lithuania.
2003 Mod. Lang. Jrnl. 87 507/1 During two 3-hour sessions in which her language students prepared and input email messages for ‘keypal’ exchanges, they were ‘so concentrated and engaged’.
key pattern n. an ornamental pattern composed of continuous combinations of straight lines; a fret or meander.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [noun] > geometric
checkingc1440
checkc1450
chequer-work1519
pane?a1549
diaper-work1602
chevron1605
diapery1631
fret1664
tooth-work1681
polygram1696
chequer1779
reticulum1797
Grecque1832
checkery1837
gammadion1848
diaper1851
key pattern1853
diapering1866
Greek fret1872
rangoli1884
geometric1894
Greek key1897
step pattern1908
Mondrian1964
1853 H. N. Humphreys Coin Collector's Man. I. iv. 28 The figure known in Greek ornament as the ‘key pattern’.
1887 J. R. Allen Early Christian Symbolism 111 The cross..is enclosed in a rectangular frame of key-pattern.
2003 D. James Draw your own Celtic Designs 66 As with the knotwork and spiral designs, the Irish monks working in their Scriptoriums developed the use of key patterns.
key performance indicator n. a quantifiable measure used to evaluate the success of an organization, employee, etc., in meeting objectives for performance; abbreviated KPI.
ΚΠ
1970 Calif. Managem. Rev. Fall 77/1 Until recently, the Soviet Union and similar countries used as a key performance indicator, upon which bonuses depended, the gross value of output with prices given.
1992 Trans. Amer. Assoc. Cost Engineers 2 L.7.6 The mere fact of setting up production targets as key performance indicators..can improve construction cost control.
2019 Mercury (Hobart, Austral.) (Nexis) 18 Aug. 65 I call on the Premier to initiate an independent review of the university to ensure..the university is fulfilling its key performance indicators in education and research.
key phone n. a telephone operated by means of buttons on a keypad rather than a dial; (now) spec. one of several such phones forming an interconnected system in a business, etc.; = key telephone n.; frequently attributive, esp. in key phone system.
ΚΠ
1958 Pop. Sci. Sept. 140/1 After experience with key phones, over 99 in 100 prefer them to dial phones.
1972 Oxf. Times 28 Apr. 5/8 The Oxford area will be getting keyphones—with pushbuttons instead of a rotating dial—next year.
1986 G. Langley Telecommunications Primer (ed. 2) xvi. 44 Intelligence is distributed out to the telephones themselves; they have to be able to do more than just dial out digits. This was the origin of the keyphone system.
2000 R. Grigonis Computer Teleph. Encycl. 306/1 You can hang off a PC, fax machine or other analog devices from your key phone.
2008 National Post's Financial Post & FP Investing (Canada) (Nexis) 8 Dec. fp4 The key phone systems most small businesses use today.
† key-piece n. Obsolete (a) Architecture = sense A. 10b; (b) Engineering = sense A. 10c.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [noun] > parts of > keystone
key1608
keystonea1637
key-piece1669
sagitta1703
key block1823
1669 W. Fisher tr. V. Scamozzi Mirrour of Archit. 4 The Key-piece in the Arch is fifty minutes high.
1751 Gentleman's Mag. 21 Suppl. 580/1 On the key-piece a cherub.
1863 Builder 28 Feb. 150/3 Properly-moulded pieces of terra-cotta, of large size, which are alternately deep brown and pale cream colour, the key-piece being brown.
1870 Nature 13 Jan. 281/1 Each ring being composed of thin segments with a key piece.
1915 Engin. News 1 Apr. 635/2 The cumbersome method of placing the blocks by hand and holding them thus until temporarily propped by sticks until the keypiece was placed.
key pin n. (a) a pin or thin rod used to hold something in place; cf. sense A. 12a; (b) Music a pin passing through the key of a piano, organ, or similar instrument, in order to maintain and control its downward movement; cf. pin-rail n. 1.
ΚΠ
1830 J. Milne Pract. View Steam Engine 72 When the piston descends too far, the end of the key-pin..comes in contact with the tail of the catch.
1838 Vermont Watchman & State Jrnl. 30 July A large quantity of Hardware for Piano making, such as..Key Pins, Pedal Rods, Feet &c.
1920 E. K. Williams Digest Canad. Case Law IX. 673 A key-pin had fallen from the steering gear of one of the tugs.
1982 O. Untracht Jewelry Concepts & Technol. x. 485/2 The pressure on the mold parts has forced the metal key pins..into the opposite mold half.
2008 P. Knize Grand Obsession (2009) xii. 122 He levels the strings, checks hammer travel, and lubricates the key pins.
† key-pipe n. Obsolete the shank or stem of a key.
ΚΠ
1827 Trans. Soc. Arts, Manufactures, & Commerce 45 115 The chief novelty of this lock consists in introducing a barrel which turns with the key, and keeps the hole shut up, all but the thickness of the key-pipe.
1901 Chambers's Encycl. (new ed.) VI. 680/1 Different webs are supplied which fit on the key-pipe to form the key.
key pistol n. now historical and rare = key gun n. (b).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > pistol > types of
dag1587
key gun1607
pocket pistol1612
key pistol1663
holster-pistol1679
troop pistol1688
horse pistol1704
screw-barrel1744
saddle pistol1764
air pistol1780
Wogdon1786
belt pistol1833
dueller1835
Colt1838
tickler1844
Derringer1853
cocking pistol1858
belt size1866
bulldozer1880
saloon pistol1899
Luger1904
Police Positive1905
Steyr1920
Saturday-night pistol1929
muff pistol1938
PPK1946
Makarov1958
Saturday-night special1959
puffer1963
snub nose1979
snubby1981
1663 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Names & Scantlings Inventions Index p. iv A Key-pistol [article 44..a Key of a Chamber door, which..shall become a perfect pistol].
1955 L. Winant Firearms Curiosa viii. 157 An early Spanish key pistol is shown in figure 178.
key point n. = sense A. 4b (also figurative).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, passage, or means of access to a place > [noun] > through hills or difficult ground > place controlling
keyc1450
key point1829
1829 Augusta (Georgia) Chron. 14 Jan. 118/4 The great key point of entry and outlet for all the produce that will ever descend the two rivers.
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows 256 They have not learned the art of concentrating their force on the key-point of their hearers' interest.
1982 Uniform Sept. 9 Country commandos will be applied to protect their own districts. Other responsibilities are the protection of national key points.
key seat n. Mechanics = keyway n. (a).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > shaft > [noun] > parts of > key > part on which key rests
key bed1835
key seat1843
1843 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 5 232 The eye of this wheel was accurately bored out..to fit the cast-iron upright shaft of the turbine, and a key seat being cut in it, opposite to an arm, to correspond to that designed to secure the bevel pinion.
1926 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 123 65/2 These rules deal with power control transmission;..control of set screws, keys and key seats; [etc.].
2010 U. C. Jindal Machine Design xiv. 403 Woodruff key is self aligning but the semi-circular shape of key creates a deeper key seat in shaft.
key-seated adj. Mechanics (of a shaft) provided with a key seat.
ΚΠ
1847 Engineer & Machinist's Assistant 132/1 The ribs on the interior of the shaft..are correspondingly key-seated.
1874 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 509 Over this sleeve a pinion..also key-seated, is slipped.
2007 M. D. Zoback Reservoir Geomechanics iv. 252 Deviated wells are usually key-seated.
key screw n. a key (sense A. 14c) used for gripping and turning screws; (also) a screw that can be turned by means of a separate key, or by an integral key-like head.
ΚΠ
1827 W. Grier Mechanic’s Pocket Dict. 287 Key Screw, see Screw key [1837 (ed. 2) a lever used for turning screws].
1861 U.S. Patent 1,367 2 By making the key screw without a head, it is not only rendered less liable to be injured while the shoe may be in use, but it admits of the calk being used to the best advantage.
1913 A. S. Faulkner What we Hear in Music 159 Kettles..covered with vellum heads, which can be controlled to pitch by means of a tension of this head, which is applied with key screws, working through iron rings.
2001 W. R. Dempsey 101 Projects Porsche 911 34 The pressure plate is attached using hex-cap key screws and should come off quite easily when they are removed.
key sentence n. a sentence which enables decryption or decipherment of a text; cf. keyword n. 1a.
ΚΠ
1822 Q. Jrnl. Jan. 292 When the despatch is composed, write the key-sentence underneath the text.
1854 C. Forster Monuments Assyria in One Primeval Lang. 207 The inscriptions terminated with their key-sentence.
2007 B. Connor Dead Past l. 348 I went nine lines down from the key sentence and nine words over.
† key-shot n. Obsolete a type of shot (shot n.1 14a); (probably) = star shot n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > shot > small
pellet1372
die?c1390
hail-shot1485
die-shot1581
dice-shot1588
birdshot1626
key-shot1648
mould shot1675
cartridge-shot1690
small shot1727
drop1753
shot-cornc1792
dust-shot1800
sparrow-hail1859
steel1898
scattershot1961
1648 New Declar. Ld. Gen. Hamilton 4 The Captain of the Guard, discharged a Drake laden with key shot at them.
1652 Sea-fight between Eng. & Dutch 30 Nov. 4 So close and thick did they ply the enemy with Key-shot, long Chains, and Bolts of Iron.
key signature n. Music a combination of sharps or flats after the clef at the beginning of each stave, indicating the key in which a piece of music is to be performed.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > written or printed music > notation > [noun] > signature
signature1721
key signature1843
time signature1843
1843 Minutes Comm. Council Educ. 1842–3 126 The staff, the cleff, and key-signature.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 396/2 The key signatures, including the clefs, are usually written on every stave.
1998 Strings Apr. 71/1 The key signature remains stubbornly in the four flats of the opening, while the music wanders into A minor and even D major.
key stage n. Education each of four age-related stages (more fully key stage 1, key stage 2, etc.) into which a child's compulsory education is divided under the national curriculum for state schools in England and Wales.
ΚΠ
1987 Guardian 21 Nov. 4/4 There will be learning targets for children to achieve during four ‘key stages’ of compulsory school life.
1988 Eng. for Ages 5 to 11 (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) p. i The four consecutive key stages are the years of compulsory schooling which end when pupils in a class are 7, 11, 14 and 16.
1991 B. Moon Guide to National Curriculum (ed. 3) iv. 30 To avoid overloading teachers, the tests at Key Stage 3 are being marked by external assessors.
2012 Church Times 10 Feb. 13/3 Some C of E schools did not reach the 70-per-cent target for pupils obtaining the expected levels at Key Stage 2 in English and maths.
† key-stop n. Music Obsolete rare each of a number of keys fitted to the fingerboard of a violin, which when pressed stop the strings.
ΚΠ
1853 Evening Mirror (N.Y.) 1 Aug. A finger-board made of ebony, with thirty-three stops, called key stops, which stand above the strings.
1897 T. Baker Dict. Musical Terms (ed. 3) 109/1 Key-stop, a key (digital) attached to the fingerboard of a violin so as to replace the fingers in stopping the strings.
† key-stringed adj. Music (Obsolete) (of a musical instrument) having strings which are sounded by means of the keys on a keyboard.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > stringed keyboards > [adjective]
key-stringed1783
1783 G. W. Lemon Eng. Etymol. at Clavi-chords A key-stringed instrument, like a spinnet.
1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 249/2 The striking apparatus of a key-stringed instrument.
1911 A. Dolge Pianos & Makers I. iii. 77 After the 15th century nearly all the makers of key-stringed instruments used the chromatic scale practically as we find it in the modern pianos.
key tail n. Music (on a piano, organ, or similar instrument) the part of the key which lies behind the key pin.
ΚΠ
1855 E. J. Hopkins Organ x. 47 The stickers..reach from the key-tails to the backfalls.
2003 E. L. Kottick Hist. Harpsichord xviii. 427 The keys of the two pianolike manuals were..weighted at the key tails to overcome that built-in friction.
key telephone n. a telephone operated by means of buttons on a keypad and connected to several telephone lines to form an interconnected system, typically in a business or other organization; originally and frequently attributive, esp. in key telephone system; cf. key phone n.
ΚΠ
1952 Bell Lab. Rec. Jan. 18/2 During the last half century,..some of the subscriber needs have become very complex, and a wide variety of PBX's, order turrets, key telephone systems, and key equipments are now available.
1976 National Observer 10 Apr. 9/2 Key-telephone systems (phones with push buttons for such purposes as putting a call on ‘hold’).
1998 L. Deixler Which Phone Syst. should I Buy? 111 The Basic model is a 14-button key telephone that provides features like Call Announce Intercom, Paging and On Hook Dialing.
2009 ENP Newswire (Nexis) 30 Nov. ‘IPstage 1000’ enables typical business networks, incorporating key telephone systems, the Internet and printers, to be set up with ease.
key trumpet n. Music a trumpet fitted with keys to enable it to produce additional tones; cf. key bugle n.
ΚΠ
1826 Monthly Mag. Suppl. No., 1 Jan. 553/2 Properly employed, key-trumpets are capable of producing an admirable effect.
1976 Early Music 4 38/2 Meinl und Lauber also make a key-trumpet in the Weidinger system.
2004 C. Ammer Dict. Music (ed. 4) 443/2 Attempts to expand the use of the trumpet included the addition of keys (key trumpet).
keyway n. Mechanics (a) a slot cut into the surface of a shaft, workpiece, etc., into which a key (sense A. 12a) fits; (b) a shaped hole in a lock through which a key enters the lock; a keyhole of a cylinder lock.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > keyhole
keyhole1504
lock hole1592
keyway1835
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > hole into which a peg, pin, knob, etc., fits
scaffold holec1568
pinhole1659
scaffolding hole1663
keyhole1703
keyway1835
winder-hole1840
knob hole1851
wall-box1875
1835 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. 15 New Ser. 193 To this key-way, or groove, was fitted a steel key, which might be moved easily.
1893 Pall Mall Gaz. 2 Jan. 5/2 He drilled three keyways out of solid steel in the collars and fitted steel bolts into them.
1912 C. E. White Successful Houses & how to build Them xxv. 441 Grooved or corrugated keys..are flat keys wrought with grooves or corrugations on the sides corresponding with grooves at the sides of the keyway.
1990 G. G. Liddy Monkey Handlers iii. 36 There's no indication of it being forced at all, but there are tool marks on the keyway of your front-door lock.
2003 Stationary Engine Mag. Nov. 20/3 This problem was overcome by having a suitable length of oversize steel welded into place, machined to the correct size and to finish off, a new keyway cut.
key-winding adj. (of a watch or other clockwork device) that is wound up with a key.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > instruments for measuring time > watch > [adjective] > of types of watch
jewelled1786
Nuremberg1847
open-faced1855
stem-winding1867
pendant winding1868
key-winding1870
split-second1884
stem-wind1900
1870 Wisconsin State Reg. 10 Dec. (advt.) In fine gold and silver cases, stem and key winding.., from $6.50 to $300.00. Ladies' watches.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 240 The square in key-winding watches by means of which the hands are set to time.
1995 W. D. Edmonds Tales my Father never Told 159 I could not afford the key-winding spring motor that Meccano offered for boys who had financial means.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

keyn.2

Brit. /kiː/, U.S. /ki/
Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: cay n.
Etymology: Variant of cay n. (see discussion at that entry).
A low-lying island or reef, esp. in the Caribbean or off the south coast of Florida.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > reef > [noun]
skelly1513
reef1579
rockray1582
head1584
skerry1612
key1693
ridge1695
cay1707
1693 Let. 3 July in Philos. Trans. 1694 (Royal Soc.) (1695) 18 91 The place whereon Port-Royal was since built, was like one of the Keys or little Islands that lie off this Harbour.
1715 F. Fernando Let. 7 Jan. in Articles against Ld. A. Hamilton (1718) vii. 21 About eight Leagues from the Florida-Keys.
1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 345 The Rock is..flat on the Top like a Key, which the Inhabitants call Kaay.
1829 W. Irving Life C. Columbus (abridged ed.) xxii. 150 He soon got entangled in a complete labyrinth of small islands and keys.
1885 C. F. Holder Marvels Animal Life 22 The group, comprising seven or eight Keys, made up of coral, is surrounded by a long reef.
1939 Florida: Guide to Southernmost State (Federal Writers' Project) i. 11 No railways or highways link these keys.
1960 H. S. Zim Guide to Everglades 45 Conch chowder, a typical dish of the Florida Keys.
1973 T. McGuane Ninety-two in Shade (1974) 47 They glided among the little hammocks and mangrove keys of Saddlebunch.
2008 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. (Nexis) 8 Mar. (Travel section) l1 Competing for attention are the world's largest sand islands, low-lying coral keys and beach-fringed peaks of rugged sunken mountains.

Compounds

Key deer n. a white-tailed deer of the small subspecies Odocoileus virginianus clavium, confined to the Florida Keys and now endangered.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > types of deer > [noun] > genus Odocoileus > Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer)
fallow deer1584
red deer1584
whitetail1805
white-tailed deer1829
flagtail1895
Key deer1922
1922 Jrnl. Mammalogy 3 74 The antlers..according to local hunters, are of record size for Key deer.
1955 Sci. News Let. 29 Oct. 277/2 The Key deer is the smallest of all North American deer, only about 26 to 29 inches tall.
2007 Sunday Times Trav. May 56/2 These are the supposedly rare and ultra-shy Key deer.
key lime n. chiefly U.S. a variety of lime naturalized in the Florida Keys and distinguished by its small size, greenish-yellow colour, high acidity, and strong aroma; (also) the tree bearing this fruit, Citrus aurantifolia.
ΚΠ
1905 Country Gentleman 28 Dec. 1198/1 The key lime is the finest on the market. It is aromatic, juicy, and highly superior to the lemon.
1948 N.Y. Times 29 July 18/1 The small Key lime has more bouquet.
2000 R. McFarland Stranger in Town 14 You can imagine..the humid air heavy with key lime blossoms or nightblooming cereus if in season.
Key lime pie n. originally and chiefly U.S. an open pie with a lime-flavoured filling typically containing lime juice (traditionally from key limes), egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk, often served in a crust made of crushed biscuits and with a whipped cream or meringue topping.
ΚΠ
1940 N.Y. Times 14 July x. 11/2 We have eaten lobster and crabs in New England, albacore in Los Angeles, turtle steak and lime pie in Key West.]
1942 House & Garden Jan. 24/2 Before us stood a tiny whitewashed board shack, plastered with neatly lettered signs advertising the specialties of the house: turtle soup and steaks, stone crabs, Key Lime Pie.
1946 Amer. Naturalist 80 215/2 A small hotel on Great Pine Key where..the preparation of Key lime pies was a highly developed art.
1970 Times 30 June 3/4 (advt.) Discover turtle steaks and Key lime pie.
2003 K. Lederer Poker Face xii. 130 The fluorescent Key lime pie, the dripping, fresh-hewn steak, even the boatloads of wilted pink shrimp were off-limits to us.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

keyn.3

Brit. /kiː/, U.S. /ki/
Forms:

α. 1900s– ki.

β. 1900s– key.

Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: kilo n.1
Etymology: Shortened < kilo n.1, with (in β. forms) respelling after key n.1 (perhaps simply to disambiguate the vowel as /iː/ rather than /ʌɪ/).
U.S. slang.
A kilogram of an illegal drug.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > unit or denomination of weight > metric gram(me) > kilogram > kilogram of a drug
key1966
1966 J. L. Simmons & B. Winograd It's Happening v. 95 It's more than connecting a ki for $90 or bagging lids to raise some bread. It's being high all the time.
1972 J. Wambaugh Blue Knight (1973) iv. 45 On her coffee table she had at least half a key and that's a pound of pot and that's trouble.
1990 S. Turow Burden of Proof ii. xxix. 331 They get a warrant, knock down the door of a stash house, find ten keys of cocaine and no one inside it.
2010 D. Easton Samurai Code xix. 203 Jojo just got busted with a key of smack.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

keyv.

Brit. /kiː/, U.S. /ki/
Forms: Middle English caye, Middle English kaye, Middle English kayȝe, Middle English keie, Middle English keiȝe, Middle English keiþe (transmission error), Middle English keye, 1500s– key.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: key n.1
Etymology: < key n.1 Compare keying n.Earlier currency is apparently shown by the following entry in Somner, showing an Old English weak Class II verb; however, the origin of this lemma has not been traced, and no such verb is attested in extant sources:1659 W. Somner Dict. Saxonico-Latino-Anglicum sig. F 4v/1 Cæggian, Obserare, to shut fast or lock.
1.
a. transitive. To lock with a key (chiefly regional in later use). Now more usually: to unlock with a key; to open by unlocking.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > close or shut [verb (transitive)] > close (a door, window, etc.) > bolt, bar, or lock
sparc1175
pena1200
louka1225
bara1300
shutc1320
lockc1325
clicketc1390
keyc1390
pinc1390
sneckc1440
belocka1450
spare?c1450
latch1530
to lock up1549
slot1563
bolt1574
to lock to?1575
double-lock1594
stang1598
obserate1623
padlock1722
button1741
snib1808
chain1839
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A vi. l. 103 Þe dore I-closet, I-keiȝet and I-kliketed, to [kepe] þe þer-oute.
a1450 Dispute Mary & Cross (Royal) l. 241 in R. Morris Legends Holy Rood (1871) 205 (MED) Heuene gate was keiþed [read keiyed] clos Til lambe of love now he deyede.
1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada i. 105 I went my wayes, keying fast after me the doore that had the lock on it.
1780 Newgate Cal. V. 201 Mrs. Penleaze swore that the windows were constantly barred and keyed every night.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. xxi. 286 Be the palace-door Thy charge,..key it fast.
1859 E. Proby Dennes of Daundelyonn I. v. 47 I had keyed the door, look you.
1898 W. F. Clark Northern Gleams 94 He ax'd me if I'd key'd da door o' my room.
1934 L. T. White in Dime Detective Mag. 1 Dec. 121/2 He..hurried across the sidewalk and keyed open the front door.
1965 in P. Jennings Living Village (1968) 36 Many old words [in the South Pembrokeshire dialect]..still remain in current use, such as to key instead of to lock.
2004 E. Reid D.B. 129 Clare keyed the door and continued inside without him.
b. transitive. To lock up; to place under lock and key. Chiefly figurative. Now rare (Scottish in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > enclosing or enclosure > enclosing or confining > enclose or confine [verb (transitive)]
pena1200
bebar?c1225
loukc1275
beshuta1300
parc1300
to shut in1398
to close inc1400
parrockc1400
pinc1400
steekc1400
lock?a1425
includec1425
key?a1439
spare?c1450
enferme1481
terminea1500
bebay1511
imprisona1533
besetc1534
hema1552
ram1567
warda1586
closet1589
pound1589
seclude1598
confine1600
i-pend1600
uptie1600
pinfold1605
boundify1606
incoop1608
to round in1609
ring1613
to buckle ina1616
embounda1616
swathe1624
hain1636
coopa1660
to sheathe up1661
stivea1722
cloister1723
span1844
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) iii. l. 3147 (MED) Froward lust was vnder lok weel keied.
a1450 (c1435) J. Lydgate Life SS. Edmund & Fremund (Harl.) l. 1072 in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1881) 2nd Ser. 396 (MED) Cloos in his herte ech uertu was I-keied [a1500 Ashm. ykeyed].
?1567 M. Parker Whole Psalter cxix. 352 Keyd fast thy word: was so to me: in hope that I have done.
1771 W. Evans tr. R. Prichard Welshman's Candle 462 Then let the Pope in Purgatory key my soul.
1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick xli. 206 With the mad secret of his unabated rage bolted up and keyed in him.
1960 Sc. National Dict. Key,..II. To lock,..to lock up, put under lock and key.
2.
a. transitive. To fasten by means of a pin, wedge, bolt, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with tools or equipment > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > with pins or pegs
biprenec1275
pinc1390
pin1449
key1577
peg1598
cotter1649
writhe1683
nog1711
cotterel1747
1577 W. Harrison Descr. Eng. iii. vi. f. 107v/2, in R. Holinshed Chron. Eng. I. An Axe keyed or fastened wyth Iron into the wood.
1639 R. Ward Animadversions of Warre i. xiv. cclxv. 382 These Bordes have foure flat Irons goes thorow them, to each corner goes one, these are keyed together.
1653 B. Whitelocke Jrnl. 7 Dec. in Jrnl. Swedish Ambassy (1772) I. 196 The bodyes of great trees squared, and..keyed togither by other great pieces of timber.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §302 To key home the plates of the cupola to the ribs.
1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Engine Explained 57 It is keyed or wedged in, and rusted in so as to be immoveable.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §550 Immovably keyed upon the cranked shaft is a heavy wooden cone pulley.
1913 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 25 Nov. 997/1 A draft pin removably inserted through said telescoping parts and keying the parts together.
1967 M. Chandler Ceramics in Mod. World v. 153 (caption) The blocks, largest of which weighed about 3600 kg, were keyed in place with carbon rods.
2009 Gold Coast (Austral.) Sun (Nexis) 29 Apr. 91 The blocks of sandstone were keyed together using tongue-and-groove construction.
b. transitive. To cause (plaster) to adhere to laths. In later use also more generally: to cause (a substance) to adhere to a surface. Cf. key n.1 15.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > clad or cover [verb (transitive)] > plaster > processes involved in plastering
litter1559
gauge1686
to prick up1779
key1837
stab1846
1837 Mechanics' Mag. 9 Dec. 148/1 The workman cannot see whether the first coat is well keyed, (or run over upon the top of the laths) upon which depends all the strength of the ceiling thus constructed.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §1383 When the mortar is put over the laths, part of it penetrates between them, and when hard keys, as it were, the plaster to the laths and renders it difficult of removal.
1904 Carpentry & Building Sept. 40/3 The metal punched from each hole being struck up so as to form projecting surfaces to assist in keying the plaster.
1963 R. R. A. Higham Handbk. Papermaking ix. 226 Adhesives are used in coating to ‘key’ the pigment to the surface of the paper.
1970 H. Braun Parish Churches xii. 157 Plaster will not adhere to wood. It requires a system of thin laths round which it is ‘keyed’ by the skill of the plasterer.
2006 P. Sunshine Wattle & Daub 26 Laths of oak or wattles of hazel would have been used to key the plaster on to the timber frame.
c. transitive. To prepare (a surface) to make it receptive to the application of a coating.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > attachment > attach or affix [verb (transitive)] > adhere to > cause to adhere
stickc1425
clam1598
cling1606
plaster1623
beglue1658
adhere1845
clitch1863
paste1863
key1923
1923 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Antiquaries Ireland 53 16 The ground being made ready by keying the surface to receive the enamel.
1965 M. J. Langford Basic Photogr. ix. 161 The manufacturer first ‘keys’ both sides of the film base or coats them with a foundation layer of gelatin and cellulose ester.
1995 K. McCloud Techniques of Decorating (1998) 64/1 If the piece is varnished or painted, sand it well to remove most of the finish and key the surface.
3.
a. transitive. To alter the pitch of (the strings of a musical instrument) by means of a key. Cf. key n.1 14a. rare.In quot. 1636 in figurative context; cf. sense 4.
ΚΠ
1636 T. Heywood Challenge Prol. sig. A3 And Poets strive to key their strings more loud.
1894 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Sept. 383 He took an instrument from it, and with a reverential air keyed the strings into tune.
1909 R. A. Bennet Volunteer with Pike xxiv. 324 I keyed my strings, and..began to sing that love ditty I had sung beneath my lady's window at Natchez.
†b. transitive. To fix (a string) on to the pegs or keys of a musical instrument. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > making or fitting instruments > accessories [verb (transitive)] > fit strings
string1530
key1872
1872 W. Skeen Early Typogr. 90 They were as useless to him as unstrung harp-strings are unmusical until they are keyed and stretched and tuned.
4. transitive. figurative. To affect (a person) emotionally; to give a particular tone or intensity to (feelings or thoughts). In later use usually: to put (a person) into a state of excitement, anxiety, or tension, esp. in expectation of, or in preparation for, a particular event or course of action. Cf. to key up at Phrasal verbs 1.Frequently as part of an extended metaphor.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > aspects of emotion > quality of affecting the emotions > affect with emotion [verb (transitive)] > give a tone or intensity to an emotion
accent1595
key1650
1650 H. Vaughan Silex Scintillans 84 Thus doth God key disorder'd man..Tuning his brest to rise or fall.
1846 G. W. Henry Incidents iii. 25 With spirits buoyant as air and keyed on a high note, full of hope and animation, I was never troubled with what is sometimes called ‘the blue devils’.
1866 W. R. Alger Solitudes Nature & Man iv. 257 The fervid quickness and strength of Rousseau's feelings keyed him on so high a pitch that [etc.].
1897 Atlantic Monthly Sept. 396/2 His aversion to the creatures keyed him to his task.
1919 S. J. Weyman Great House xi. 94 The sermon had keyed her thoughts to a high pitch.
1935 Boys' Life Aug. 26/2 On the home stretch Bob lengthened his stride and keyed himself for the final dash.
1971 A. Slaughter & M. Goodman Every Man should have One viii. 43 Athletes run their best race when they use their natural anxiety to key them to a more stylish finish.
1997 F. McLynn Napoleon viii. 139 Napoleon's military maxims presuppose an army keyed to the highest pitch of élan and commitment.
5. transitive. To insert the keystone in (an arch).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [verb (transitive)] > insert keystone into
key1735
to key in1751
1735 J. Price Some Considerations Stone-bridge Thames 8 After the Arches are thus turn'd and key'd.
1751 C. Labelye Descr. Westm. Bridge 91 To frame and set up a wooden Frame, called a Center, under every Arch..and to ease and strike none of them till they are all built, or at least keyed.
1837 Railway Mag. Dec. 459 The second arch, over the deepest part of the Ribble, will be keyed before Christmas.
1882 Trans. Engineers' Soc. W. Pennsylvania 1 141 This defect I remedied by cutting an opening in the movable neck and connections on the top side of the arch, so as to key the arch from above.
1917 Railway Age Gaz. 16 Feb. 277/1 The concrete was shoveled and rammed into place to key the arch.
2002 Biogr. Dict. Civil Engineers I. 635/2 Three weeks after the arch had been keyed and before the centring had been eased, the arch collapsed.
6. transitive. Advertising (originally U.S.). To distinguish (an advertisement in a periodical), typically by varying the form of the address given for customer responses, so as to identify the publication generating any particular response.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > business of advertising > [verb (transitive)] > target specific audience or reader
key1896
1896 Printers' Ink 14 Oct. 18/2 If you do not key your ads how do you tell which mediums are paying you?
1927 Daily News 7 June 5/5 Advertisers who key their advertisements report their best results from the ‘Daily News’.
1943 ‘C. S. Forester’ Ship 56 How often had he devised ingenious methods by which to ‘key’ advertisements to discover which had the greatest pulling power.
1967 Times Rev. Industry Oct. 82/2 One keys advertisements and measures returns.
1998 D. L. Yadin Creative Marketing Communications (ed. 2) xviii. 216 Unless you key an advertisement, you may have no idea where the replies are actually coming from.
7. Chiefly Botany.
a. transitive. To identify (a plant or animal) using a key (key n.1 5e). Also: to devise a key for the identification of (a plant or animal). Usually with out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > taxonomy > [verb (transitive)] > devise a set of statements for classification
key1905
1905 Contrib. U.S. National Herbarium 8 317 When keyed out in the synopsis above referred to it [sc. Heliocarpus velutinus] comes nearest H. glanduliferus, but is of course abundantly distinct from that species.
1925 A. S. Hitchcock Methods Descr. Systematic Bot. v. 25 Out of the numerous characters pertaining to the several species to be keyed out, an author, in devising a key, strives to select constant characters, and, as a rule, relatively conspicuous ones.
1954 Proc. Bot. Soc. Brit. Isles 1 202 Two species and one variety are recognised in Belgium, keyed as follows.
1972 Watsonia 9 197 Confusion often arises..because specimens are carelessly keyed and compared with descriptions.
2007 A. F. Rhoads & T. A. Block Plants Pennsylvania (ed. 2) 2 Make your observations carefully and thoroughly. Take your time, especially if you are new to ‘keying out’ plants.
b. intransitive. Of a plant or animal: to be identified or assigned to a particular taxon by the use of a key. Usually with out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > taxonomy > [verb (intransitive)] > be identified by a key
key1921
1921 Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 14 296 The specimen keys out to that species in Stein's key..to the females of European Anthomyidæ.
1961 Watsonia 4 277 A. clementii, although it keys out near A. quitensis H.B.K. on account of the leafless apical part of its inflorescence.., is probably not at all closely related.
1964 C. M. Jones & D. W. Anthony Tabanidae of Florida 24/2 The specimen keys to vittatus in Philip's key to males.
1979 Bot. Soc. Brit. Isles News Oct. 16 V. hirsuta (beware how this Br. species tends to key out as V. vicioides in the Flora Europaea 2 key).
2003 I. Clarke & H. Lee Name that Flower (ed. 2) 68 Such a plant may key out easily to an incorrect answer, so it is important to check identifications.
8.
a. transitive. Electronics. To switch (an electronic device) from one state to another, typically on or off, esp. (in early use) by means of a key or relay in telegraphic transmission. Also: to provide (electronic equipment) with a means for doing this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > circuit > device to open or close circuit > connect or disconnect [verb (transitive)]
to turn on1824
disconnect1826
to turn down1855
switch1881
to put on1892
to turn off1892
key1929
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic devices or components > operation of electronic devices > [verb (transitive)] > initiate change
to turn on1824
key1929
trip1936
trigger1937
to turn down1941
1929 K. Henney Princ. Radio xvii. 443 (heading) Keying a transmitter.
1943 F. E. Terman Radio Engineers' Handbk. ix. 629 Unless the oscillator is keyed, the low-power portions of the transmitter operate continuously.
1961 L. F. Gray & R. Graham Radio Transmitters vi. 137 Where ‘break-in’ is needed it may be necessary to key the transmitter oscillator to avoid generating an interfering signal..in the receiver.
1966 M. Schwartz et al. Communication Syst. & Techniques vii. 280 The carrier is ‘keyed’ on and off to describe the two telegraph states.
2004 H. P. A. Ketterling Introd. Digital Professional Mobile Radio v.159 In TDMA systems..the carrier is periodically keyed on and off many times during one message.
b. transitive. colloquial (originally U.S.). To switch on (a radio transmitter or microphone); to set to transmit.
ΚΠ
1978 R. Burns Speak for Dead ii. 16 He keyed the G.E. radio pack holstered on his belt and sent the code for an ambulance.
1988 ‘J. Norst’ Colors xiii. 171 Hodges keyed the mike: One CRASH Thirty-two, we're southbound on Avalon from Vernon.
1991 Prairie Fire Dec. 78 The Fire Boss..picked up his radio transmitter and keyed the handset.
2010 S. J. Schwartz Beat (2012) 315 One of them keyed a radio mike as they ran to her side. ‘Code Three! We've got a breach in the barracks on set eighteen!’ he yelled.
9. transitive. U.S. Sport colloquial. Of a player, action, quality, etc.: to be a dominant or key element in (a team, game, etc.); to be crucial to (a victory, etc.). Also intransitive. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1948 Washington Post 21 Mar. c1/7 Harrison was Michigan's steadying man in the first half but it was..Elliot..who keyed the Wolverines in the big second frame.
1950 Washington Post 24 Sept. c2/7 Cox's passing keyed the drive.
1969 Evening Standard (Uniontown, Pa.) 21 Oct. 12/3 Bob Dice, Harry Miller, Guy Rider, and Bod Dice keyed in the victory.
1998 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 15 Apr. 2 Dennis, a retired teacher, said experience keyed his victory over Creech [in the election].
2003 D. Finoli & B. Rainer Pittsburgh Pirates Encycl. ii. 128/2 Stuart contributed a three run 450-foot triple to dead center to key a victory over the Cubs.
10. transitive. Computing. To enter or produce (text or other data) using a keyboard; to type. Cf. to key in 3 at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > hardware > peripherals > use keyboard [verb (transitive)]
keyboard1906
key1964
society > computing and information technology > data > database > data entry > enter data [verb (transitive)]
punch1910
input1946
to key in1963
key1964
keystroke1966
capture1971
1964 C. Dent Quantity Surv. by Computer vii. 100 Reading over the print-out against the dimensions..has the advantage of requiring the data to be keyed only once, instead of twice.
1978 Computerworld 27 Mar. s7/1 Data from the file folders was keyed at each reservations center.
1984 J. Grant & C. Grant ZX Programmer's Compan. ix. 159 It is very easy to forget to look at the display..to check that the number has been keyed correctly.
1997 ABA Jrnl. May 90/2 An Auto-Recognition feature allows users to key the initial characters of a client's name or ID for an instant search-and-find of that record.
2005 M. G. Dareau in C. J. Kay & M. A. Mackay Perspectives Older Sc. Tongue 33 An important consequence of keying the material at a relatively early stage in the process was the capacity gained to sort the quotations electronically.
11. transitive. To vandalize (a vehicle) by scraping the paint with a key.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)] > damage deliberately or vandalize
demolish1646
to knock abouta1817
vandalize1845
distress1943
trash1970
key1987
1987 Chicago Tribune 12 Nov. i. 28/1 Say your car was ‘keyed’—you know, the paint job marred by some jerk running a set of car keys across the finish.
1998 Independent (Nexis) 23 July 9 It wasn't just the unwanted attention of the traffic cops that got Barlow down. Hardly a week went by when the car was not keyed.
2001 C. Fowler Devil in Me (2005) 107 It was New Year's Eve, and the three of us had blazed a trail of destruction down Ferris Road, doing the jeeps, keying the sides of BMWs.

Phrasal verbs

PV1. With adverbs in specialized senses. to key down
transitive. To lower in level, pitch, or intensity; to tone down. Cf. to key up at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > decrease or reduction in quantity, amount, or degree > reduce in quantity, amount, or degree [verb (transitive)] > tone down
temperc1000
modifyc1385
softenc1410
tame?a1500
qualify1536
temperatea1540
extenuate1561
supple1609
dilute1665
palliate1665
weaken1683
subdue1723
lower1780
modulate1783
to shade away1817
to water down1832
to water down1836
sober1838
veil1843
to tone down1847
to break down1859
soothe1860
tone1884
to key down1891
soft-pedal1912
1891 R. Kipling in Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Jan. 25 If you try to give these people the thing as God gave it keyed down to their comprehension [etc.].
1921 Everybody's Dec. 77/1 He began speaking in a low tone, merely to test his voice. He keyed it down until it had no stridency.
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix II (1968) 251 Everything that everybody feels is keyed down, and muted, so as not to impinge on anybody else's feelings.
2008 R. Owen & A. Rucker Born Country x. 241 I was taking medication that keyed me down and probably, to some, gave the appearance that I was distant and uninvolved.
 to key in
1. transitive. To insert the keystone in (an arch). Cf. sense 5. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > arch > [verb (transitive)] > insert keystone into
key1735
to key in1751
1751 C. Labelye Descr. Westm. Bridge 75 The last Arch was key'd in.
1771 Ann. Reg. 1770 97/2 The new bridge..fell down after it was key'd in.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art. I. 213 To key the arch in, it is usual, to have a brick, and not the joint between two bricks, in the centre.
1880 Carpentry & Building Feb. 38/3 What is the best method, or correct method, of keying in a pointed arch with brick?
1911 H. S. Watson Sewerage Syst. 275 Great care is to be taken in keying in the arch.
1961 J. Fitchen Constr. Gothic Cathedrals 233/1 The brick-layer whose duty it is to key-in the arch stands with his head and shoulders between the brick-work.
2. With with (also to).
a. intransitive. To cohere or be in keeping with something else. Cf. to key into —— 2b at Phrasal verbs 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > be suitable, appropriate, or suit [verb (intransitive)] > fit a certain environment, etc.
to key in1921
to key into ——1947
1921 Continent 31 Mar. 369/1 The churches..bother him. They don't exactly key in with his framework thesis—that there is nothing both decent and sensible anywhere along ‘Main Street’.
1960 E. Bowen Time in Rome i. 14 Lean young skyscrapers..key in with Rome's general virtuosity.
1979 M. C. Bateson in M. Bullowa Before Speech ii. 68 What is learned at one stage keys in to what is learned at the next stage.
2007 Wire May 61/3 Andrew Pekler's music has keyed in with the times at various points during his decade-long career.
b. transitive. To cause to cohere or fit in with something else; to link or relate closely. Frequently in passive. Cf. to key into —— 2a at Phrasal verbs 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > adapt or adjust [verb (transitive)] > fit in or into something
to fay in1847
to key in1922
1922 Electr. World 25 Nov. 1190/2 In some cases local newspaper advertising is keyed in with the inauguration and maintenance of the displays.
1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 14 Mar. 133/3 It [sc. the Book of Mormon] is much longer than the New Testament. Moreover, it is elaborately ‘keyed-in’ to the Bible.
1975 Evening Observer (Dunkirk, N.Y.) 31 Oct. 16/2 The room has a great amount of high interest material, some of which is keyed in with tapes and student instructional magazines.
2002 M. C. Mckenna F. Roosevelt & Great Constit. War ii. 60 By 1935, the country's entire financial structure was keyed in with the newly devalued currency.
3. transitive. Computing. To enter or produce (text or other data) using a keyboard; to type in. Cf. sense 10.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > data > database > data entry > enter data [verb (transitive)]
punch1910
input1946
to key in1963
key1964
keystroke1966
capture1971
1963 R. H. Gregory & R. L. Van Horn Automatic Data-processing Syst. (ed. 2) v. 145 The user makes an inquiry by keying in an address in high-speed or bulk storage.
1972 Physics Bull. Sept. 531/3 Instead of manually selecting individual type slugs from a case..the compositor keys in the copy at a specially laid out keyboard.
1990 InfoWorld 19 Mar. s4/3 Errors such as keying in the wrong data type produce squawks and a helpful diagnostic error window.
2003 Daily Tel. 26 Aug. 28/6 The spyware will also log the..full details of the data you are keying in, such as your user ID and password.
4. intransitive. Originally and chiefly U.S. With on. To pay particular attention to a person or thing; to focus or concentrate. Cf. to key on —— at Phrasal verbs 2.
ΚΠ
1967 Black World Dec. 91/1 The new theater..is keying in on black theater for Harlem, black plays by black writers.
1977 M. Torres in R. P. Rettig et al. Manny ii. 43/2 We keyed in on big-volume grocery stores. They were the easiest marks.
2003 M. Gilfillan Rivers & Birds 120 Another good-sized bird farther off on a power pole, keying in on us.
 to key up
transitive. To stimulate, raise to a high pitch; to cause to be excited or tense. Cf. keyed-up at keyed adj. 5.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > exciting > excite [verb (transitive)]
astirc1000
stir?c1225
araisec1374
entalentc1374
flamec1380
reara1382
raisec1384
commove1393
kindlea1400
fluster1422
esmove1474
talent1486
heavec1540
erect?1555
inflame1560
to set on gog1560
yark1565
tickle1567
flesh1573
concitate1574
rouse1574
warmc1580
agitate1587
spirit1598
suscitate1598
fermentate1599
nettle1599
startle1602
worka1616
exagitate1621
foment1621
flush1633
exacuatea1637
ferment1667
to work up1681
pique1697
electrify1748
rattle1781
pump1791
to touch up1796
excite1821
to key up1835
to steam up1909
jazz1916
steam1922
volt1930
whee1949
to fire up1976
geek1984
1835 J. Todd Student's Man. 165 You would wish to stimulate your mind, and key it up to the highest point.
1888 W. H. Hurlbert Ireland under Coercion I. i. 46 If Mr. Balfour keys up the landlords to stand out.
1945 S. O'Casey Drums under Windows 223 The tramway workers..were trying to key themselves up to make a fight of it.
1964 F. Chichester Lonely Sea & Sky (1967) xii. 135 I was getting intensely excited, but it did me good by keying me up for the vital work ahead.
1999 C. Holz Semi-detached ix. 141 The chomp she made as she chewed and the crinkling of the popcorn bag keyed him up even more.
PV2. With prepositions in specialized senses. to key into ——
1. transitive. To put (a person) into (a particular emotional state), esp. in expectation of, or in preparation for, an event or course of action.
ΚΠ
1887 A. B. Dodd Cathedral Days iv. 84 We were keyed into an emotional feeling before we entered the temple.
1911 E. H. Abbott Sick-a-Bed Lady 16 The Sick-A-Bed Lady's fragile childishness keyed the Young Doctor into an almost uncanny tenderness and restraint.
2009 J. Grady in J. Deaver et al. Watchlist (2011) iii. 47 Middleton's jagged nerves keyed him into a detached hyper-vigilance he'd not felt since returning to the Balkans' slaughterhouse.
2.
a. transitive. To cause to cohere or fit in with; to link or relate closely to. Frequently in passive. Cf. to key in 2b at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > adapt or adjust [verb (transitive)] > cause to correspond or agree
reciprocate1620
match1680
answer1726
to key to ——1910
to key into ——1931
1931 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 15 Apr. d22/7 Keyed into a setting of wild, mountain magnificence is Harrison Hot Springs Hotel, remindful of some English manor.
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 14 Feb. 8/4 (heading) Keying labor law into the facts of life.
1999 D. Phillips et al. Writing Well x. 126 A simple structure for an exercise can be organised around a set of questions that are keyed into a central theme.
b. intransitive. To cohere or be in keeping with. Cf. to key in 2a at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > be suitable, appropriate, or suit [verb (intransitive)] > fit a certain environment, etc.
to key in1921
to key into ——1947
1947 Sun (Baltimore) 13 Nov. 18/2 (heading) Mr. Reuther's victory keys into a world-wide pattern.
1969 Guardian 21 July 1/4 A carefully planned schedule which keys into the two-hourly orbit of their mother craft.
1989 M. Barret in E. A. Meese & A. Parker Difference Within 45 This keys into a well-trodden debate about women's studies.
2003 G. Palmer Discipline & Liberty viii. 176 This keys into a burgeoning cultural movement which promises empowerment through self-belief.
 to key on ——
intransitive. North American (originally and chiefly Sport). To focus or concentrate on; to pay close attention to. Cf. to key in 4 at Phrasal verbs 1.
ΚΠ
1966 Boys' Life Aug. 6/3 Pros..can't devote defenses strictly to Sayers,..but they will be keying on him.
1989 Peterson's Hunting Ann. 1990 30/2 I key on high spots in the deep swamps because deer will go to them to rest.
1996 Ice Hockey News Rev. 21 Dec. 4/1 We really tried to key on Scott Young; make sure every time he picked up the puck he had a Panther in his face.
2004 E. Kelly Winning the Game (2010) iv. 48 This is so unfair... I wonder why he doesn't like me... I bet he is going to key on me for the rest of the game.
 to key to ——
transitive. Chiefly U.S. = to key into —— 2a at Phrasal verbs 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > adapt or adjust [verb (transitive)] > cause to correspond or agree
reciprocate1620
match1680
answer1726
to key to ——1910
to key into ——1931
1910 Lyceumite & Talent Nov. 9/1 The popular lecturer..tries to compress his life-observations into one address, [and] key it to the average intelligence of his audience.
1925 Scribner's Mag. Oct. 441/1 He..into the fibre of his work put something..which they can understand, something keyed to the rhythms of American life.
1976 National Observer 27 Nov. ii. 4/1 Almost everything in the center is keyed to families with young children.
2009 G. McDonald Frommer's Amsterdam 32/2 Floats keyed to a different floral theme each year parade..through Sassenheim..to Haarlem.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

> see also

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n.1adj.eOEn.21693n.31966v.c1390
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