| / English Dictionary |
KEY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
device (an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose)
Meronyms (parts of "key"):
bit (the part of a key that enters a lock and lifts the tumblers)
shank; stem (cylinder forming a long narrow part of something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "key"):
ignition key (a key that operates the ignition switch of an automotive engine)
latchkey (key for raising or drawing back a latch or opening an outside door)
master; master key; passe-partout; passkey (key that secures entrance everywhere)
Derivation:
key (vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key)
key (provide with a key)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
lever (a rigid bar pivoted about a fulcrum)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "key"):
telegraph key (key consisting of a lever that sends a telegraph signal when it is depressed and the circuit is closed)
tab; tab key (the key on a typewriter or a word processor that causes a tabulation)
space bar (the bar-shaped typewriter key that introduces spaces when used)
shift; shift key (the key on the typewriter keyboard that shifts from lower-case letters to upper-case letters)
return; return key (the key on electric typewriters or computer keyboards that causes a carriage return and a line feed)
command key; control key ((computer science) the key on a computer keyboard that is used (in combination with some other key) to type control characters)
backspace; backspace key; backspacer (the typewriter key used for back spacing)
Holonyms ("key" is a part of...):
action; action mechanism (the operating part that transmits power to a mechanism)
Holonyms ("key" is a member of...):
keyboard (device consisting of a set of keys on a piano or organ or typewriter or typesetting machine or computer or the like)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The central building block at the top of an arch or vault
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
building block (a block of material used in construction work)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "key"):
coign; coigne; quoin (the keystone of an arch)
Holonyms ("key" is a part of...):
arch ((architecture) a masonry construction (usually curved) for spanning an opening and supporting the weight above it)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)
Synonyms:
key; winder
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
mechanical device (mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "key"):
watch key (winder consisting of a key with a square hole; used for winding some watches)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Pitch of the voice
Example:
he spoke in a low key
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
pitch (the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration)
Derivation:
key (regulate the musical pitch of)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Something crucial for explaining
Example:
the key to development is economic integration
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
explanation (thought that makes something comprehensible)
Sense 7
Meaning:
A generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access
Example:
a safe-deposit box usually requires two keys to open it
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
positive identification (evidence proving that you are who you say you are; evidence establishing that you are among the group of people already known to the system; recognition by the system leads to acceptance)
Sense 8
Meaning:
A list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
list; listing (a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics))
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "key"):
key word (a word that is used as a pattern to decode an encrypted message)
Sense 9
Meaning:
A list of answers to a test
Example:
some students had stolen the key to the final exam
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
list; listing (a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics))
Sense 10
Meaning:
Any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
Synonyms:
key; tonality
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
musical notation ((music) notation used by musicians)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "key"):
major key; major mode (a key whose harmony is based on the major scale)
minor key; minor mode (a key based on the minor scale)
home key; tonic key (the basic key in which a piece of music is written)
Derivation:
key (regulate the musical pitch of)
Sense 11
Meaning:
(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
Example:
he dominates play in the paint
Synonyms:
key; paint
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
space (an area reserved for some particular purpose)
Meronyms (parts of "key"):
foul line (a line from which basketball players take penalty shots)
Domain category:
basketball; basketball game; hoops (a game played on a court by two opposing teams of 5 players; points are scored by throwing the ball through an elevated horizontal hoop)
Holonyms ("key" is a part of...):
basketball court (the court on which basketball is played)
Sense 12
Meaning:
A coral reef off the southern coast of Florida
Synonyms:
cay; Florida key; key
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
coral reef (a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone)
Holonyms ("key" is a part of...):
Everglade State; FL; Fla.; Florida; Sunshine State (a state in southeastern United States between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico; one of the Confederate states during the American Civil War. In Spanish, Florida means Flowery)
Sense 13
Meaning:
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)
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Instance hypernyms:
attorney; lawyer (a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice)
poet (a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry))
Sense 14
Meaning:
A winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
achene (small dry indehiscent fruit with the seed distinct from the fruit wall)
Sense 15
Meaning:
A kilogram of a narcotic drug
Example:
they were carrying two keys of heroin
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("key" is a kind of...):
kg; kilo; kilogram (one thousand grams; the basic unit of mass adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites)
Domain usage:
argot; cant; jargon; lingo; patois; slang; vernacular (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Serving as an essential component
Example:
computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure
Synonyms:
cardinal; central; fundamental; key; primal
Classified under:
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they key ... he / she / it keys
Past simple: keyed
Past participle: keyed
-ing form: keying
Sense 1
Meaning:
Harmonize with or adjust to
Example:
key one's actions to the voters' prevailing attitude
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "key" is one way to...):
harmonise; harmonize; reconcile (bring into consonance or accord)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Sense 2
Meaning:
Regulate the musical pitch of
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "key" is one way to...):
chord; harmonise; harmonize (bring into consonance, harmony, or accord while making music or singing)
Domain category:
music ((music) the sounds produced by singers or musical instruments (or reproductions of such sounds))
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something PP
Derivation:
key (pitch of the voice)
key (any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Identify as in botany or biology, for example
Synonyms:
describe; discover; distinguish; identify; key; key out; name
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
"Key" entails doing...:
assort; class; classify; separate; sort; sort out (arrange or order by classes or categories)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key
Example:
His new Mercedes was keyed last night in the parking lot
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "key" is one way to...):
vandalise; vandalize (destroy wantonly, as through acts of vandalism)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
key (metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Provide with a key
Example:
We were keyed after the locks were changed in the building
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Hypernyms (to "key" is one way to...):
furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
key (metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated)
Context examples:
Her-2 (ErbB-2), a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) overexpressed by a variety of cancer cell types, belongs to the EGFR superfamily and plays key roles in both tumor cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis.
(Anti-Her-2-CAR Retroviral Vector-Transduced Autologous Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes, NCI Thesaurus)
Before the spinet a bench was placed, about four feet below the keys, and I was put upon the bench.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
EGFR, a receptor tyrosine kinase overexpressed in a variety of cancer cell types, is a key regulator of cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and metastasis.
(Anti-EGFR Monoclonal Antibody Mixture MM-151, NCI Thesaurus)
Endosialin/TEM1 plays a key role in angiogenesis and may be overexpressed on tumor stromal cells and endothelial cells.
(Anti-Endosialin Monoclonal Antibody MORAb-004, NCI Thesaurus)
EGFR, overexpressed by a variety of cancers, plays a key role in tumor cell proliferation and survival.
(Anti-EGFR TAP Antibody-drug Conjugate IMGN289, NCI Thesaurus)
The Sonic Hedgehog pathway plays a key role in the development of animals and humans.
(Using both marijuana and alcohol during early pregnancy may increase the likelihood of disrupting fetal development, National Institutes of Health)
M.D., Ph.D., and her colleagues showed that panobinostat, which blocks key histone deacetylase enzymes, could restore the DIPG histone function to a more normal state.
(Scientists find promising drug combination against lethal childhood brain cancers, National Institutes of Health)
It was locked, but the key had been left on the outside.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And now the two sat down to the table together, but the miller’s wife was frightened to death, and went to bed and took all the keys with her.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Then the green man fitted spectacles for the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and the Lion, and even on little Toto; and all were locked fast with the key.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
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