How to pronounce “key”

Meaning

• [Noun]
• (countable) An object designed to open and close a lock.
• An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as a shaft and a wheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relative orientation.
• A crucial step or requirement.
• A small guide explaining symbols or terminology, especially the legend on a map or chart.
• A guide to the correct answers of a worksheet or test.
• (computing) One of several small, usually square buttons on a typewriter or computer keyboard, mostly corresponding to text characters.
• (music)
• (music) A scale or group of pitches constituting the basis of a musical composition.
• (figurative) The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.
• (advertising) A modification of an advertisement so as to target a particular group or demographic.
• (botany) An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, such as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara.
• (historical) A manual electrical switching device primarily used for the transmission of Morse code.
• (cryptography) A piece of information (e.g., a password or passphrase) used to encode or decode a message or messages.
• (Internet) A password restricting access to an IRC channel.
• (databases) In a relational database, a field used as an index into another table (not necessarily unique).
• (computing) A value that uniquely identifies an entry in a container.
• Any of various tools comparable to a wrench (spanner) or driver, or, in some cases, also called a wrench or driver.
• (biology) A series of logically organized groups of discriminating information which aims to allow the user to correctly identify a taxon.
• (architecture) A piece of wood used as a wedge.
• (architecture) The last board of a floor when laid down.
• (masonry) A keystone.
• That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
• (rail transport) A wooden wedge, driven sideways between a bullhead rail and a cast-iron chair, to keep the rail securely in position.
• The degree of roughness, or retention ability of a surface to have applied a liquid such as paint, or glue.
• (cartomancy) The thirty-third card of the Lenormand deck.
• (print and film) The black ink layer, especially in relation to the three color layers of cyan, magenta, and yellow. See also CMYK.
• (computer graphics, television) A color to be masked or made transparent.
• (basketball) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line, the free-throw lane having formerly been narrower, giving the area the shape of a skeleton key hole.
• (Australian rules football) A key position player (a tall forward or defender).
• [Adjective]
• Indispensable, supremely important.
• Important, salient.
• [Verb]
• To fit (a lock) with a key.
• To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them.
• To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class.
• (telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).
• (radio) To operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio).
• (computing) (more usually to key in) To enter (information) by typing on a keyboard or keypad.
• (colloquial) To vandalize (a car, etc.) by scratching with an implement such as a key.
• To link (as one might do with a key or legend).
• (intransitive, biology, chiefly taxonomy) To be identified as a certain taxon when using a key.
• (advertising, transitive) To modify (an advertisement) so as to target a particular group or demographic.
• To attune to; to set at; to pitch.
• To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.
• To prepare for plastering by adding the key (that part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place).
• To provide an arch with a keystone.
• Clipping of chromakey.

Practice Nearby Words

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Similar Sounds

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