# keying

Pronunciation: say "KEE-ing" US /ˈkiɪŋ/, UK /ˈkiːɪŋ/

## Verb

1. Present participle of key. — present participle and gerund of key
   - Simple: Present participle of key. Use this form for the action happening right now.
   - _The clerk was keying customer orders into the system one by one._
   - _Keying the figures by hand took most of the morning._

## Noun

2. Putting text or data into a computer or other device by typing it on a keyboard.
   - Simple: Typing letters or numbers into a computer using a keyboard.
   - _Manual keying of the survey results introduced several mistakes._
   - _The office switched to scanners to cut down on keying._
3. Deliberate damage to paintwork, especially on a car, made by scratching it with a key.
   - Simple: Damaging a car's paint on purpose by dragging a key across it.
   - _A spate of keying left several cars in the lot badly scratched._
   - _The keying of the bumper was clearly intentional._
4. In the sociology of Erving Goffman, an action or utterance that signals to participants what an interaction means.
   - Simple: A small action or word that shows people in a conversation what kind of situation they are really in.
   - _The actor's exaggerated bow served as a keying, marking the scene as parody rather than tribute._
   - _Among the negotiators, a shift to first names worked as a keying that the meeting had become informal._

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/keying (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).