Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Key
Key
(kē)
, Noun.
[OE.
keye
, key
, kay
, AS. cæg
.] 1.
An instrument by means of which the bolt of a lock is shot or drawn; usually, a removable metal instrument fitted to the mechanism of a particular lock and operated by turning in its place.
2.
A small device which is inserted into a mechanism and turned like a key to fasten, adjust, or wind it;
as, a watch
key
; a bed key
; the winding key
for a clock, etc.4.
A position or condition which affords entrance, control, pr possession, etc.;
as, the
. key
of a line of defense; the key
of a country; the key
of a political situationHence,
that which serves to unlock, open, discover, or solve something unknown or difficult;
as, the
Similarly, see also senses 14 and 15. key
to a riddle; the key
to a problem. Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true
key
of books. Locke.
Who keeps the
keys
of all the creeds. Tennyson.
5.
That part of a mechanism which serves to lock up, make fast, or adjust to position.
6.
(Arch.)
(a)
A piece of wood used as a wedge.
(b)
The last board of a floor when laid down.
7.
(Masonry)
(a)
A keystone.
(b)
That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
8.
(Mach.)
(a)
A wedge to unite two or more pieces, or adjust their relative position; a cotter; a forelock.
See Illusts. of Cotter
, and Gib
. (b)
A bar, pin or wedge, to secure a crank, pulley, coupling, etc., upon a shaft, and prevent relative turning; sometimes holding by friction alone, but more frequently by its resistance to shearing, being usually embedded partly in the shaft and partly in the crank, pulley, etc.
9.
(Bot.)
An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara; – called also
key fruit
. 10.
(Mus.)
(a)
A family of tones whose regular members are called diatonic tones, and named key tone (or tonic) or one (or eight), mediant or three, dominant or five, subdominant or four, submediant or six, supertonic or two, and subtonic or seven. Chromatic tones are temporary members of a key, under such names as “ sharp four,” “flat seven,” etc. Scales and tunes of every variety are made from the tones of a key.
(b)
The fundamental tone of a movement to which its modulations are referred, and with which it generally begins and ends; keynote.
Both warbling of one song, both in one
key
. Shakespeare
11.
Fig: The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.
You fall at once into a lower
key
. Cowper.
Key bed
. Same as
– Key seat
. Key bolt
, a bolt which has a mortise near the end, and is secured by a cotter or wedge instead of a nut.
Key bugle
. See
– Kent bugle
. Key of a position
or
Key of a country.
(Mil.)
See
– Key
, 4. Key seat
(Mach.)
, a bed or groove to receive a key which prevents one part from turning on the other.
– Key way
, a channel for a key, in the hole of a piece which is keyed to a shaft; an internal key seat; – called also
– key seat
. Key wrench
(Mach.)
, an adjustable wrench in which the movable jaw is made fast by a key.
– Power of the keys
(Eccl.)
, the authority claimed by the ministry in some Christian churches to administer the discipline of the church, and to grant or withhold its privileges; – so called from the declaration of Christ, “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
Matt. xvi. 19.
Key
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Keved
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Keying
.] 1.
To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.
Francis.
To key up
. (a)
(Arch.)
To raise (the whole ring of an arch) off its centering, by driving in the keystone forcibly.
(b)
(Mus.)
To raise the pitch of.
(c)
Hence,
(fig.)
, to produce nervous tension in;
as, the whole team was
.keyed up
for the championship gameWebster 1828 Edition
Key
KEY
,Noun.
ke.
1.
An instrument for shutting or opening a lock, by pushing the bolt one way or the other. Keys are of various forms, and fitted to the wards of the locks to which they belong.2.
An instrument by which something is screwed or turned; as the key of a watch or other chronometer.3.
The stone which binds an arch. [See Key-stone.]4.
In an organ or harpsichord, the key, or finger key is a little lever or piece in the fore part by which the instrument is played on by the fingers.5.
In music, the key, or key note, is the fundamental note or tone, to which the whole piece is accommodated, and with which it usually begins and always ends. There are two keys, one of the major, and one of the minor mode. Key sometimes signifies a scale or system of intervals.6.
An index, or that which serves to explain a cypher. Hence,7.
That which serves to explain any thing difficult to be understood.8.
In the Romish church, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or the power of the pope, or the power of excommunicating or absolving.9.
A ledge or lay of ricks near the surface of the water. 10. The husk containing the seed of an ash.
KEY
,Noun.