KEY, n. ke. In a general sense, a fastener; that which fastens; as a piece of wood in the frame of a building, or in a chain, &c.

1. In a general sense, a fastener; that which fastens; as, a piece of wood in the frame of a building, or in a chain, &c.
2. 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.
3. An instrument by which something is screwed or turned; as, the key of a watch or other chronometer.
4. The stone which binds an arch. [See Key-stone.]
5. 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.
6. 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. – Rousseau.
7. An index, or that which serves to explain a cipher. Hence,
8. That which serves to explain any thing difficult to be understood.
9. In the Romish church, ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or the power of the pope; or the power of excommunicating or absolving. – Encyc.
10. A ledge or lay of rocks near the surface of the water.
11. The husk containing the seed of an ash. – Evelyn.

A bank or wharf built on the side of a river or harbor, for the convenience of loading and unloading ships, and securing them in their stations. Hence, keys are furnished with posts, rings, cranes, capstans, &c. It sometimes written Quay. – Encyc.

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. 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.

3. A metallic lever by which the circuit of the sending or transmitting part of a station equipment may be easily and rapidly opened and closed; any device for closing or opening an electric circuit.
4. A simplified version or analysis which accompanies something as a clue to its explanation, a book or table containing the solutions to problems, ciphers, allegories, or the like, or a table or synopsis of conspicuous distinguishing characters of members of a taxonomic group.
5. An instrument which is turned like a key in fastening or adjusting any mechanism; as, a watch key; a bed key, etc.
6. That part of an instrument or machine which serves as the means of operating it; as, a telegraph key; the keys of a pianoforte, or of a typewriter.
7. 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, discover, or solve something unknown or difficult; as, the 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.

8. That part of a mechanism which serves to lock up, make fast, or adjust to position.
9. A piece of wood used as a wedge.
   
   
   (b)
10. A keystone.
    
    
    (b)
11. A wedge to unite two or more pieces, or adjust their relative position; a cotter; a forelock.
    
    
    See Illusts. of Cotter, and Gib. (b)
12. An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara; -- called also key fruit.
13. 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)
14. 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 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.