key

Adjective

• serving as an essential component
  • a cardinal rule
    
  • the central cause of the problem
    
  • an example that was fundamental to the argument
    
  • computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure
    

Noun

• a lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed

• the central building block at the top of an arch or vault

• mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)

• a generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access
  • a safe-deposit box usually requires two keys to open it
    

• a list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations

• a list of answers to a test
  • some students had stolen the key to the final exam
    

• (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
  • he hit a jump shot from the top of the key
    
  • he dominates play in the paint
    

• a coral reef off the southern coast of Florida

• 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)

• a winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple

• a kilogram of a narcotic drug
  • they were carrying two keys of heroin
    

• any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music

• pitch of the voice
  • he spoke in a low key
    

• something crucial for explaining
  • the key to development is economic integration
    

• metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated

Verb

• harmonize with or adjust to
  • key one's actions to the voters' prevailing attitude
    

• regulate the musical pitch of

• vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key
  • His new Mercedes was keyed last night in the parking lot
    

• provide with a key
  • We were keyed after the locks were changed in the building
    

• identify as in botany or biology, for example

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  cardinal , central , fundamental , primal , keystone , headstone , winder , paint , cay , Florida key , Key , Francis Scott Key , samara , key fruit , tonality , identify , discover , key out , distinguish , describe , name
• Antonyms: 
  atonality , atonalism