Free TranslationFree Translation
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home 		English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Key   /ki/   Listen
Key

adjective
1.
Serving as an essential component.  Synonyms: cardinal, central, fundamental, primal.  "The central cause of the problem" , "An example that was fundamental to the argument" , "Computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure"
noun
1.
Metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated.
2.
Something crucial for explaining.
3.
Pitch of the voice.
4.
Any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music.  Synonym: tonality.
5.
A kilogram of a narcotic drug.
6.
A winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple.  Synonyms: key fruit, samara.
7.
United States lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812; the poem was later set to music and entitled 'The Star-Spangled Banner' (1779-1843).  Synonym: Francis Scott Key.
8.
A coral reef off the southern coast of Florida.  Synonyms: cay, Florida key.
9.
(basketball) a space (including the foul line) in front of the basket at each end of a basketball court; usually painted a different color from the rest of the court.  Synonym: paint.  "He dominates play in the paint"
10.
A list of answers to a test.
11.
A list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations.
12.
A generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access.
13.
Mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock).  Synonym: winder.
14.
The central building block at the top of an arch or vault.  Synonyms: headstone, keystone.
15.
A lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed.
verb
(past & past part. keved; pres. part. keying)
1.
Identify as in botany or biology, for example.  Synonyms: describe, discover, distinguish, identify, key out, name.
2.
Provide with a key.
3.
Vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key.
4.
Regulate the musical pitch of.
5.
Harmonize with or adjust to.



Related searches:
key fruit
key lime
key out
key palm
key pattern
key ring
key signature
key stroke
Key West
key word
ash-key
backspace key
church key
command key
control key
Florida key
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
Greek key
home key
ignition key
keyboard
latchkey
low-key
major key
master key
minor key
off-key
on-key
passkey
return key
screw key
shift key
skeleton key
tab key
telegraph key
tonic key
watch key


WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University


Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words


Share |




"Key" Quotes from Famous Books



... the hangman's malice. Here's a health to the Plague! Let the mighty ones dread, The poor never lived till the wealthy were dead. A health to the Plague! May She ever as now Loose the rogue from his chain and the nun from her vow: To the gaoler a sword, to the captive a key, Hurrah for Earth's Curse—'tis a Blessing ...
— Rienzi • Edward Bulwer Lytton
... I became, as it were, another man; and above me on the bank I saw calmly the stone where my living double had left his cripple's cane, and thought to myself for one sharp moment, "Fool!"—for I looked forward. If I had not drowned, that was the key-note of the theme. Something that was me and was not me rose up from the water-wall and went away,—a man racked and broken by a great sorrow, it is true, but a man conscious of God. Life had turned its darkest page for him, but there was the impassable fact that it was the darkest; no further ...
— Atlantic Monthly Vol. 3, No. 16, February, 1859 • Various
... thee the hidden stone, the Manna lies; Thou art the great Elixir rare and Choice; The Key that opens to all Mysteries, The Word in Characters, ...
— Spare Hours • John Brown
... "I have a key," said Hirst cryptically. His chin was still upon his knees and his eyes fixed in front ...
— The Voyage Out • Virginia Woolf
... him away from the Baron. Fisher, more and more astonished, made no resistance, but suffered himself to be led, or pushed, toward the door. Dr. Rapperschwyll opened the door wide enough to give the American exit, and then closed it with a vicious slam. A quick click informed Fisher that the key had been ...
— Stories by American Authors, Volume 10 • Various


More quotes...


Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com