key

{{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}}

noun

1 for a door

ADJECTIVE

▪ master, skeleton

▪ duplicate, spare

▪ apartment (esp. AmE), car, door, house, ignition, room, etc.

▪

She hides a front door key in a flowerpot.

… OF KEYS

▪ bunch, ring (esp. AmE), set

▪

a large bunch of keys

▪

He fished a ring of keys out of his pocket.

▪

a set of car keys

VERB + KEY

▪ turn

▪

She turned the key in the lock.

▪ insert, put in, slide in

▪

I slid the key into the lock and went in.

▪ remove, take out

▪ use

▪

She must have used a key to get in.

▪ leave

▪

She left a key with the neighbours/neighbors.

▪ lock in

▪

I'd accidentally locked the keys in my car.

KEY + VERB

▪ open, unlock

▪

You need a key to open the garage.

▪ lock

▪ turn

▪

They heard a key turn in the lock.

▪ jangle, jingle

▪

The sound of keys jangling caught her attention.

PREPOSITION

▪ with a/the key

▪

You have to close it with the key.

▪ key for

▪

Robbie didn't have a key for these doors.

▪ key to

▪

the key to the front door

PHRASES

▪ get a key cut (BrE)

▪

I'll get another key cut so that you can have one.

2 on a computer

ADJECTIVE

▪ Alt, arrow, backspace, control, delete, enter, escape, function, return, shift, etc.

▪ hot (= a key that you can press to perform a set of operations quickly), short-cut

▪

F1 is the short-cut key for calling up help.

… OF KEYS

▪ row

▪

the top row of keys

VERB + KEY

▪ hit, hold down, press, punch, tap

▪

Hold down the Alt key while pressing the arrow keys.

▪ release

3 decisive factor

VERB + KEY

▪ have, hold

▪

First-time voters could hold the key to the election result.

PREPOSITION

▪ key to

▪

Language is the key to understanding those around you.

4 in music

ADJECTIVE

▪ major, minor

▪ high, low

VERB + KEY

▪ change

▪

The piece changes key in the middle.

KEY + VERB

▪ change

▪

The key changes from C major to A minor.

KEY + NOUN

▪ change

▪ signature

PREPOSITION

▪ in a/the key

▪

What key is it in?

▪

Can we try it in a lower key?

▪ key of

▪

the key of G major

PHRASES

▪ a change of key

5 on a musical instrument

ADJECTIVE

▪ organ, piano, etc.

▪ black, white

VERB + KEY

▪ caress, stroke, touch

▪ depress

{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}

adj.

Key is used with these nouns: ↑advantage, ↑aim, ↑ally, ↑appointment, ↑area, ↑article, ↑aspect, ↑assumption, ↑attribute, ↑challenge, ↑characteristic, ↑component, ↑concept, ↑concession, ↑consideration, ↑constituency, ↑contributor, ↑customer, ↑decision, ↑demand, ↑difference, ↑dimension, ↑distinction, ↑document, ↑element, ↑employee, ↑event, ↑executive, ↑factor, ↑feature, ↑figure, ↑finding, ↑function, ↑idea, ↑importance, ↑indicator, ↑individual, ↑industry, ↑ingredient, ↑instrument, ↑issue, ↑leader, ↑link, ↑measure, ↑meeting, ↑member, ↑message, ↑milestone, ↑ministry, ↑moment, ↑objective, ↑paragraph, ↑part, ↑participant, ↑passage, ↑performer, ↑personnel, ↑phrase, ↑plank, ↑player, ↑point, ↑position, ↑precinct, ↑principle, ↑problem, ↑provision, ↑question, ↑reason, ↑recommendation, ↑requirement, ↑respect, ↑role, ↑sector, ↑senator, ↑stage, ↑step, ↑strategy, ↑strength, ↑stumbling block, ↑supplier, ↑suspect, ↑target, ↑task, ↑term, ↑test, ↑text, ↑theme, ↑thing, ↑tool, ↑topic, ↑turning point, ↑vocabulary, ↑vote, ↑witness, ↑word, ↑worker