(n.) 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.
(n.) An instrument which is turned like a key in fastening or adjusting any mechanism; as, a watch key; a bed key, etc.
(n.) 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.
(n.) 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.
(n.) That part of a mechanism which serves to lock up, make fast, or adjust to position.
(n.) A piece of wood used as a wedge.
(n.) The last board of a floor when laid down.
(n.) A keystone.
(n.) That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
(n.) A wedge to unite two or more pieces, or adjust their relative position; a cotter; a forelock.
(n.) A bar, pin or wedge, to secure a crank, pulley, coupling, etc., upon a shaft, and prevent relative turning; sometimes holding by friction alone, but more frequently by its resistance to shearing, being usually embedded partly in the shaft and partly in the crank, pulley, etc.
(n.) An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara; -- called also key fruit.
(n.) 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.
(n.) The fundamental tone of a movement to which its modulations are referred, and with which it generally begins and ends; keynote.
(n.) Fig: The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.
(v. t.) To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.
Example Sentences:
(1) Community involvement is a key element of the Primary Health Care (PHC) approach, and thus an essential topic on a course for managers of Primary Health Care programmes.
(2) A key way of regaining public trust will be reforming the system of remuneration as agreed by the G20.
(3) Instead, the White House opted for a low-key approach, publishing a blogpost profiling Trinace Edwards, a brain-tumour victim who recently discovered she was eligible for Medicaid coverage.
(4) The presence of a few key residues in the amino-terminal alpha-helix of each ligand is sufficient to confer specificity to the interaction.
(5) The key warning from the Fed chair A summary of Bernanke's hearing Earlier... MPs in London quizzed the Bank of England on Libor.
(6) "Seller reports are key to identifying bad buyers and ridding them from our marketplace," says eBay.
(7) It is suggested that the low-density lipoprotein receptors in human fetal liver may play a key role in the regulation of the serum cholesterol levels during gestation.
(8) A key component of a career program should be recognition of a nurse's needs and the program should be evaluated to determine if these needs are met.
(9) As novel antibody therapeutics are developed for different malignancies and require evaluation with cells previously uncharacterized as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) targets, efficient description of key parameters of the assay system expedites the preclinical assessment.
(10) Meanwhile, Hunt has been accused of backtracking on a key recommendation in the official report into Mid Staffs.
(11) The safe motherhood initiative demands an intersectoral, collaborative approach to gynecology, family planning, and child health in which midwifery is the key element.
(12) Acetylcholinesterase is a key enzyme in cholinergic neurotransmission for hydrolyzing acetylcholine and has been shown to possess arylacylamidase activity in addition to esterase activity.
(13) If Lagarde had been placed under formal investigation in the Tapie case, it would have risked weakening her position and further embarrassing both the IMF and France by heaping more judicial worries on a key figure on the international stage.
(14) Four goals, four assists, and constant movement have been a key part of the team’s success.
(15) Mechanosensitive ion channels may play a key role in transducing vascular smooth muscle (VSM) stretch into active force development.
(16) But Abaaoud, the man thought to be a key planner for the group behind the Paris attacks, boasted to a niece that he had brought around 90 militants back to Europe with him.
(17) Key therapeutic questions are whether beta-lactams can safely replace aminoglycosides for the treatment of gram-negative pneumonia, and whether monotherapy or aminoglycoside and beta-lactam combination antibiotic treatment is superior.
(18) Teaching procedures then establish and build these key components to fluency.
(19) Doubts about Hinkley Point have deepened after a detailed report by HSBC’s energy analysts described eight key challenges to the project, which will be built by the state-backed French firm EDF and be part-financed by investment from China .
(20) The Lords will vote on three key amendments: • To exclude child benefit from the cap calculation (this would roughly halve the number of households affected).
Pivotal
Definition:
(a.) Of or pertaining to a pivot or turning point; belonging to, or constituting, a pivot; of the nature of a pivot; as, the pivotalopportunity of a career; the pivotal position in a battle.
Example Sentences:
(1) Excessive accumulation of hydrogen ions in the brain may play a pivotal role in initiating the necrosis seen in infarction and following hyperglycemic augmentation of ischemic brain damage.
(2) The function of motherese has become a pivotal issue in the language-learning literature.
(3) Glucose is the principal source for energy production in the brain, and undisturbed glucose metabolism is pivotally significant for normal function of this organ.
(4) Currently employed clinical indicators of perfusion provide inadequate warning of developing hazards caused by marginal perfusion in certain vital organs or "peripheral" tissues that are pivotal to postsurgical wound healing.
(5) Endobronchial biopsy and bronchial lavage studies following inhaled PAF did not show any increase in the number of activation of eosinophils, which are pivotal in the pathogenesis of BHR.
(6) Turkish police have stormed the offices of an opposition media group days before the country’s pivotal election, in a crackdown on companies linked to a US-based cleric and critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan .
(7) It was the introduction of Aluko that proved pivotal.
(8) This article discusses the effect of existing statutes and case law on three pivotal questions: To what sort of information are people entitled?
(9) It has been generally accepted that the deregulation of oncogenes or their regulators play a pivotal role in progression of this prevalent disease.
(10) The fact that Fraser suggested Pinter write one of the pivotal scenes, in which Emma challenges Jerry to leave his wife, was a revelation, he says.
(11) Marine Rotational Force – Darwin” (MRF-D) is one of four American marine air ground task forces (MAGTFs) in the Asia-Pacific region, along with those in Guam, Hawaii and Okinawa, the sum of which make up a central strategic pillar of the pivot.
(12) Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘I’m president, they’re not’: Donald Trump at rally in Washington Trump is “much more resilient” than his opponents allow, said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, before pivoting to a plug for his new book, Understanding Trump .
(13) Twitter has become pivotal in organising anti-government dissent in the past year: the Occupy Gezi movement, which marches against the recently passed internet censorship bill that allows the government to block any content within four hours without a court order, and the massive street protest and the funeral attended by hundreds of thousands after the death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan , were initiated via social media.
(14) Verbal and non verbal communication skills (with the patient and the team) are pivotal in this approach; relatives are considered partners in the care of the patient and an essential element of the caring environment.
(15) This year will mark the start of a pivotal chapter for development as the UN finalises ambitious goals this autumn to improve all lives and secure a healthy planet.
(16) The 5' cap structure of eucaryotic mRNA plays a pivotal role in mRNA metabolism.
(17) Thirty years after one of the pivotal clashes in the miners' strike of 1984 when violent confrontations erupted at the Orgreave coking plant, the area outside Sheffield could barely look more different.
(18) Arthritic symptoms were present at operation in thirty patients, while thirty-four had no postoperative objective signs of pivot shift or instability.
(19) Two lines of evidence indicate that the general transcription factor TFIIB is a pivotal component in the mechanism by which an acidic activator functions.
(20) If cortical actin filaments are disrupted with dihydrocytochalasin B, processes form that are similar to those induced by dBcAMP suggesting that the disruption of the cortical actin network is the pivotal step in process formation.