ALL meanings of key
key
K k - noun plural key tone or pitch, as of voice: to speak in a high key. 1
- noun plural key mood or characteristic style, as of expression or thought: He writes in a melancholy key. 1
- noun plural key degree of intensity, as of feeling or action. 1
- noun plural key a pin, bolt, wedge, or other piece inserted in a hole or space to lock or hold parts of a mechanism or structure together; a cotter. 1
- noun plural key a small piece of steel fitting into matching slots of a hub of a wheel or the like and the shaft on which the wheel is mounted so that torque is transmitted from one to the other. 1
- noun plural key a contrivance for grasping and turning a bolt, nut, etc. 1
- noun plural key Computers. a field or group of characters within a record that identifies the record, establishing its position among sorted records, and/or provides information about its contents. 1
- noun plural key (in a series of advertisements or announcements soliciting replies) a unique code inserted for each medium used, to determine the relative effectiveness of the media. 1
- noun plural key Electricity. a device for opening and closing electrical contacts. a hand-operated switching device ordinarily formed of concealed spring contacts with an exposed handle or push button, capable of switching one or more parts of a circuit. 1
- noun plural key Biology. a systematic tabular classification of the significant characteristics of the members of a group of organisms to facilitate identification and comparison. 1
- noun plural key Masonry. a keystone. 1
- noun plural key Architecture. (in a ribbed vault) a stone, as a boss, at the intersection of two or more ribs. 1
- noun plural key Masonry, Carpentry. a wedge, as for tightening a joint or splitting a stone or timber. 1
- noun plural key Carpentry. a small piece of wood set into a timber across the grain to prevent warping. 1
- noun plural key Building Trades. any grooving or roughness applied to a surface to improve its bond with another surface. 1
- noun plural key Basketball. keyhole (def 2). 1
- noun plural key Photography. the dominant tonal value of a picture, a high-key picture having light tonal values and minimal contrast and a low-key picture being generally dark with minimal contrast. 1
- noun plural key Painting. the tonal value and intensity of a color or range of colors: Rembrandt's colors are characterized by their low key. 1
- noun plural key Botany. a samara. 1
- noun plural key (initial capital letter) a member of the House of Keys. 1
- noun plural key keys, spiritual authority. 1
- noun plural key a reef or low island; cay. 1
- noun plural key a kilogram of marijuana or a narcotic drug. 1
- adjective key chief; major; important; essential; fundamental; pivotal: a key person in the company; key industries. 1
- verb with object key to regulate or adjust (actions, thoughts, speech, etc.) to a particular state or activity; bring into conformity: to key one's speech to the intellectual level of the audience. 1
- verb with object key Music. to regulate the key or pitch of. 1
- verb with object key Painting. to paint (a picture) in a given key. to adjust the colors in (a painting) to a particular hue: He keyed the painting to brown. 1
- verb with object key to fasten, secure, or adjust with a key, wedge, or the like, as parts of a mechanism. 1
- verb with object key to provide with a key. 1
- verb with object key (in the layout of newspapers, magazines, etc.) to identify, through signs or symbols, the positions of illustrations or pieces of copy in a dummy. 1
- verb with object key to lock with or as if with a key. 1
- verb with object key Masonry. to provide (an arch or vault) with a keystone. 1
- verb with object key Computers. keyboard (def 4). 1
- verb without object key to use a key. 1
- verb without object key Computers. keyboard (def 4). 1
- idioms key power of the keys, the authority of a pope in ecclesiastical matters, vested in him as successor of St. Peter. 1
- noun key Francis Scott, 1780–1843, U.S. lawyer: author of The Star-Spangled Banner. 1
- noun key A small piece of shaped metal with incisions cut to fit the wards of a particular lock, and that is inserted into a lock and turned to open or close it. 1
- noun Technical meaning of key 1. (database) A value used to identify a record in a database, derived by applying some fixed function to the record. The key is often simply one of the fields (a column if the database is considered as a table with records being rows, see "key field"). Alternatively the key may be obtained by applying some function, e.g. a hash function, to one or more of the fields. The set of keys for all records forms an index. Multiple indexes may be built for one database depending on how it is to be searched. 2. (cryptography) A value which must be fed into the algorithm used to decode an encrypted message in order to reproduce the original plain text. Some encryption schemes use the same (secret) key to encrypt and decrypt a message, but public key encryption uses a "private" (secret) key and a "public" key which is known by all parties. 3. (hardware) An electromechanical keyboard button. 1
- noun key for a lock 1
- noun key for a code 1
- noun key on a computer keyboard 1
- noun key music: D major, etc. 1
- noun key on a map 1
- noun key on a piano, etc. 1
- noun key solution 1
- noun key most important thing 1
- noun key on a mechanism, for winding 1
- adjective key most important 1
- noun key in a dictionary 1