Synonyms for key

noun

• a coral reef off the southern coast of Florida
• (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
• any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
• 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)
• mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)
• the central building block at the top of an arch or vault
• a winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple
• a generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access
• a kilogram of a narcotic drug
• a lever (as in a keyboard) that actuates a mechanism when depressed
• a list of answers to a test
• a list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations
• metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
• pitch of the voice
• something crucial for explaining

verb

• identify as in botany or biology, for example
• harmonize with or adjust to
• provide with a key
• regulate the musical pitch of
• vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key

adjective

• serving as an essential component