<B>key</B> (1), noun, pl. <B>keys,</B> adjective, verb, <B>keyed,</B> <B>keying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>a small metal instrument for fastening and unfastening the lock of a door, a padlock, or any similar device. <BR> <I>Ex. the key to a strongbox. (Figurative.) The love of books, the golden key That opens the enchanted door (Andrew Lang).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>anything shaped or used like it. <BR> <I>Ex. a key to open a tin can, the key of a clock, a Phi Beta Kappa key.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>an answer to a puzzle or problem. <BR> <I>Ex. The key to this puzzle will be published in tomorrow's edition of the newspaper. This does not ... mean, however, that we should try to find the key to the events of our time in the conclusions which these men of another time drew from the events of theirs (Edmund Wilson).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a sheet or book of answers to mathematical or other problems. <BR> <I>Ex. a key to a test.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>a systematic explanation of abbreviations or symbols in a dictionary or map. <DD><B> d. </B>an outline map or chart intended to make a full map or chart more intelligible. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a place that commands or gives control of a sea or a district because of its position. <BR> <I>Ex. Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) an important or essential person or thing. <BR> <I>Ex. Hard work is one key to success.</I> <DD><B> 5a. </B>a pin, bolt, wedge, or other piece put in a hole or space to hold parts together, such as one put between a shaft and a wheel, to lock the wheel to the shaft. <DD><B> b. </B>a wedge forced into a slot of a canvas stretcher to tighten the surface of a canvas. <DD><B> c. </B><B>=keystone.</B> <DD><B> 6a. </B>one of a set of levers pressed down by the fingers in playing some musical instruments, such as a piano, organ, or wind instrument. <BR> <I>Ex. Don't hit the keys so hard.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>one of a set of levers in a typewriter or similar instrument, pressed by the fingers in the same way as the keys of a piano. <DD><B> c. </B><B>=telegraph key.</B> <DD><B> 7. </B>a scale or system of tones in music related to one another in a special way and based on a particular note. <BR> <I>Ex. a song written in the key of C.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>a device to turn a bolt or nut. Keys were used to wind watches from about 1400 to 1875 and are still used to wind some kinds of clocks. <DD><B> 9. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>a tone of voice. <BR> <I>Ex. to speak in a shrill key.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a style of thought or expression. <BR> <I>Ex. The widow wrote in a sorrowful key.</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>(Botany.) <B>=key fruit.</B> <DD><B> 11. </B>(Biology.) a guide to the identification of a group of plants or animals, having the outstanding determining characteristics arranged in a systematic way. <DD><B> 12. </B>the matter inserted in an advertisement to determine the quantity of response. <DD><I>adj. </I> very important; controlling; fundamental. <BR> <I>Ex. key factors, key executives, the key industries of the nation.</I> (SYN) pivotal. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to fasten or adjust with a key. <BR> <I>Ex. The hub is often splined instead of keyed to the shaft.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to regulate the pitch of; tune. <BR> <I>Ex. to key a piano in preparation for a concert.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to adjust (a speech or other written or spoken matter) to give it a particular tone. <BR> <I>Ex. The letter was keyed to a tone of defiance.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to lock, especially with a key; lock up. <DD><B> 5. </B>to provide with a key or keys. <DD><B> 6. </B>to put code letters or some other device in (an advertisement) <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to tighten a canvas on a stretcher with a wedge. <BR> <I>Ex. Stretchers are made about 1/4 inch short to allow for keying (Ralph Mayer).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S. Football.) to use the movements of an offensive player to guide a defensive player's movements. <BR><I>expr. <B>key up,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>(Figurative.) to raise the courage or nerve of (to the point of doing something). </I> <I>Ex. I keyed myself up to ask for a higher salary.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to raise to a higher pitch. <BR> <I>Ex. key up a violin.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="key">
<B>key</B> (2), noun, pl. <B>keys.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a low island or reef; cay. There are keys in the West Indies and south of Florida. </DL>
<A NAME="key">
<B>key</B> (3), noun, pl. <B>keys.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Slang.) a kilogram of a drug, especially hashish. </DL>
<A NAME="keybit">
<B>key bit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the part of a key that fits the lock, cut to correspond with a set of notches inside of a lock. </DL>
<A NAME="keyboard">
<B>keyboard, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> set of keys in a piano, organ, typewriter, calculating machine, or typesetting machine. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to feed (information) by the use of an electronic keyboard. <BR> <I>Ex. After the encyclopedia, consisting of many volumes, has been keyboarded into the computer, the computer under instruction withdraws the material on a specified subject from its memory storage and sets it up for publication as a separate book or pamphlet (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to produce music on a keyboard instrument. <BR> <I>Ex. Roosevelt Sykes keyboards his "Highway 61 Blues" (Esquire).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to use a keyboard. <DD><B> 2. </B>to play a keyboard instrument. </DL>
<A NAME="keyboardist">
<B>keyboardist, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who plays an electronic or acoustic keyboard instrument. </DL>
<A NAME="keychain">
<B>key chain,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small chain for attaching keys and other small articles. </DL>
<A NAME="keyclub">
<B>key club,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a night club that admits only members, who usually receive a key to the premises. </DL>
<A NAME="key">
<B>Key</B> or <B>key deer,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a tiny deer, less than 30 inches high, found in the Florida Keys. It is considered to be a variety of the white-tailed deer. </DL>
<A NAME="keyed">
<B>keyed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having keys. <BR> <I>Ex. a keyed flute or trombone.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>pitched in a particular key. <BR> <I>Ex. That sonata is keyed in E minor.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>stimulated to a particular point. <BR> <I>Ex. The contestants were keyed to the highest pitch.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Figurative.) adjusted; fitted. <BR> <I>Ex. A "brain" made essentially of cold cathode trigger tubes, which translate the keyed impulses into each of the 144 output selections (New Scientist).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>fastened or strengthened with a key. <DD><B> 4. </B>constructed with a keystone. </DL>
<A NAME="keyedup">
<B>keyed-up, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> agitated. <BR> <I>Ex. The police feared the keyed-up crowd would riot.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="keyfruit">
<B>key fruit,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) a dry, winged fruit; samara. <BR> <I>Ex. The seeds of the maple are in key fruits.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="keygrip">
<B>key grip,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Theater.) the chief stagehand. </DL>
<A NAME="keyhole">
<B>keyhole, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a small opening in a lock through which a key is inserted to turn the lock. <DD><B> 2. </B>a hole made to receive a peg or key used in carpentry or engineering; keyway. <DD><B> 3. </B>the free throw lane of a basketball court, so named because of its shape. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1a. </B>shaped like a keyhole. <BR> <I>Ex. keyhole neckline.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>having a very small opening, as in surgery using lasers, laparoscopes, or microsurgical techniques. <BR> <I>Ex. keyhole dentistry.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) dealing with private, confidential, or intimate matters. <BR> <I>Ex. keyhole chitchat.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="keyholesaw">
<B>keyhole saw,</B> <B>=compass saw.</B></DL>
<A NAME="keyless">
<B>keyless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without a key or keys. <BR> <I>Ex. a keyless lock.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="keylight">
<B>keylight, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Photography.) main source of directed light falling on an object, or scene. </DL>
<A NAME="keyman">
<B>keyman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a telegraph operator. </DL>
<A NAME="keymoney">
<B>key money,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>money paid by a prospective tenant for the right to rent. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] exploited the housing shortage to extort key money (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a sum of money deposited by a new tenant as security when he obtains his key. </DL>
<A NAME="keynesian">
<B>Keynesian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) or his theories of economics. <BR> <I>Ex. After 1945, Belgium stood for laissez-faire and orthodox economics, while Holland seemed a model Keynesian economy (Economist).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> an advocate of the theories of Keynes. </DL>
<A NAME="keynesianism">
<B>Keynesianism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes, especially opposition to laissez faire and emphasis on government spending to encourage investment and increase employment. </DL>
<A NAME="keynote">
<B>keynote, </B>noun, verb, <B>-noted,</B> <B>-noting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the tone on which a scale or system of tones in music is based; tonic. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) the main idea; guiding principle. <BR> <I>Ex. World peace was the keynote of his speech.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to present the keynote address at a convention of (a political campaign, party, or other special group). <DD><B> 2. </B>(Music.) to give the keynote of. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to give the main idea of. <BR> <I>Ex. Mr. Gottlieb, the first to speak at the hearings, keynoted the artists' worries (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to give a keynote address. </DL>
<A NAME="keynoteaddress">
<B>keynote address</B> or <B>speech,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a speech, usually at a political gathering, that presents the principal issues in which those present are interested. </DL>
<A NAME="keynoter">
<B>keynoter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who makes the keynote address of a political campaign, party, or other special group. </DL>
<A NAME="keynotespeaker">
<B>keynote speaker,</B> <B>=keynoter.</B></DL>
<A NAME="keypad">
<B>keypad, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British.) a small console with a set of buttons for operating an electronic calculator or other machine. <BR> <I>Ex. Telephones equipped with a 12-button keypad can be used for data communication or retrieval (London Times).</I> </DL>
