keys

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of key.

   He jangled his keys while searching for the right one.

   All the office keys were collected at the end of the day.

   Note

   A regular plural, made with a plain -s, it covers every kind of key the noun names: the ones on a ring, the pins that hold a wheel to its shaft, the legends on maps, the answer keys used to mark tests, and the buttons on a keyboard. The identical spelling also serves as the verb's present tense, so "her keys" and "she keys" are told apart only by the words around them.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of key.

   The receptionist keys every appointment into the shared calendar.

   He keys the access code and the gate swings open.

   Note

   The present-tense form behind several trades: an operator keys a telegraph or a radio transmitter, a locksmith keys a lock, a machinist keys a wheel to its shaft. For typing, the bare verb is less usual than the phrasal form. A typist keys in the code, with in placed before a noun object or after a pronoun (keys it in).

   She keys in her PIN without looking at the pad.

   He reads each number aloud and then keys it in.

3. 3
   noun

   A keyboard instrument, such as a piano, organ, or synthesizer, especially one played in a band or group.

   She handles keys and backing vocals on the new record.

   The band's sound leans on warm, vintage keys from the seventies.

   Similarkeyboards

   Note

   A musician's word that names a part in the band rather than a set of objects. Someone plays keys, or is on keys, the way someone plays drums. Though plural in form, it usually covers one player's whole station, whether piano, organ or synthesizer, and it sits naturally in lineups and record credits beside guitar, bass and vocals.

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