touch keyn.
/ˈtʌtʃ kiː/, U.S. /ˈtətʃ ˌki/ 1. Music. A key on a woodwind or keyboard instrument; = key n.1 19.
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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
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > [noun] > keyboard of > key
key1513
note1697
tasto1740
ivory1818
digital1878
manual1882
touch key1891
1891 Era 16 May 7/3 Improvements in connections to typewriters, pianos, organs, and musical instruments, having moveable touch keys.
1896 A. J. Hipkins Descr. & Hist. Pianoforte 47 The various keyboard instruments have in common the apparatus of levers and touch keys for eliciting the sound.
2005 Galpin Soc. Jrnl. 58 48/1 The very narrow tip of the touch-key is shaped in such a way that both it and the tip of the upper key may be depressed simultaneously with the little finger, to play the instrument's lowest note.
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the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > [noun] > instruments used in experiments on
touch-weight1878
touch key1895
1895 E. W. Scripture Thinking, Feeling, Doing 46 (caption) The Touch-key.
1905 E. B. Titchener Exper. Psychol. II. ii. 346 The break stimulator is a slightly modified form of Scripture's touch key.
3. A key or button on a telephone, computer, etc.; = key n.1 20.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > parts of machines > control(s) > [noun] > buttons
tit1864
push-button?1874
press-buttonc1876
push1886
pressel1892
press-cock1932
stop button1940
touch key1957
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
1957 Cumberland (Maryland) Evening Times 5 Sept. 16/6 Touch keys on the control panel, lined up like a piano keyboard, give exact heat settings for three of the four surface units.
1968 Financial Times 2 Aug. 8/4 Home terminals..resemble normal telephones with touch keys in place of a dial.
1997 Math. Gaz. 81 103 Experiments were tried with touch keys and the Casio PB80 even provided a small inexpensive calculator with BASIC programming.
2013 D. Haun Trial of Silence: Pre Trial I. iv. 36 A computer keyboard is imbedded [sic] at the proper level, a framed area having chrome square touch keys the right size so you don't hit more than one at a time even with long fingernails.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1891