To
fasten or secure firmly; to
fasten or tighten with keys or wedges. To
key up.
To
raise the
pitch of. Hence, fig, to manufacture
nervous tension in.
Origin: Keved; Keying.
1. An
instrument by means of which the bolt of a
lock is
shot or drawn; generally, a removable
metal instrument fitted to the
mechanism of a special
lock and operated by turning in its place.
2. An
instrument which is turned
like a
key in fastening or adjusting any mechanism; as, a
watch key; a
bed key, etc.
3. That
part of an
instrument or car which serves as the means of operating it; as, a
telegraph key; the keys of a pianoforte, or of a typewriter.
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 situation. Hence, that which serves to unlock, open, detect, or decide something unknown or difficult; as, the
key to a riddle; the
key to a problem. "Those
who are
accustomed to
cause 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, create quick, or
adjust to position.
6. A
piece of
tree used as a wedge. The
recent board of a
floor when laid down.
7. A keystone. That
part of the plastering which is
forced through between the laths and holds the
rest in place.
8.
A wedge to unite two or more pieces, or adjust their relative position; a cotter; a forelock. 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 generally embedded partly in the shaft and partly in the crank, pulley, etc.
9. An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara.
Synonym: key fruit.
10. 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 each variety are made from the tones of a key. The fundamental tone of a movement to which its modulations are referred, and with which it usually begins and ends; keynote. "Both warbling of one song, both in one key." (Shak)
11. Fig: The common pitch or tone of a offer or utterance. "You fall at once into a lower key." (Cowper) Key bed. Same as Key place. Key bolt, a bolt which has a mortise around the end, and is secured by a cotter or wedge instead of a nut. Key bugle. See Kent bugle. Key of a position or country.
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." .
Origin: OE. Keye, key, kay, AS. Cg.
Source: Websters Vocabulary