key

鍵

ドアの開閉や施錠、車の始動に使う、特定の形をした小さな金属の道具。

やさしい英語で： A small shaped piece of metal used to open or lock a door or start a vehicle.

• I lost my key.
• She turned the key in the lock.
• Have you seen my car keys?

よく使う表現： door key, car key, spare key

キー

文字や命令を入力するために押す、パソコンやタイプライターのボタン。

やさしい英語で： A button on a computer or typing machine that you press to enter letters or commands.

• Press the Enter key.
• One key on my keyboard is broken.
• Hold down both keys to copy the text.

類義語： button

よく使う表現： enter key, press a key, shift key, escape key

電子キー、カードキー

錠を開けるためのカードや小型の電子機器。

やさしい英語で： A card or small electronic device that opens a lock.

• Tap your key against the reader.
• The hotel gave us two room keys.
• My electronic key no longer opens the garage.

類義語： access card, key card

よく使う表現： room key, electronic key, key card

鍵盤

ピアノなどで、音を出すために押す部分の一つ。

やさしい英語で： One of the parts you press on a piano or similar instrument to make a sound.

• Press this piano key.
• Her fingers moved quickly across the keys.
• The organ has several rows of keys.

よく使う表現： piano key, black key, white key

調

曲の中心となる音と、それに結びつく音のまとまり。

やさしい英語で： The main note and related set of notes around which a piece of music is built.

• This song is in a minor key.
• We changed the key to suit her voice.
• Can you play it in the key of G?

使い方： in the key of something (The piece is in the key of D major.)

類義語： tonality

よく使う表現： key of c, major key, minor key

重要な、主要な

物事がうまく働いたり成功したりするために、とても大切な。

やさしい英語で： Very important to the way something works or succeeds.

• Sleep is a key part of good health.
• She played a key role in the project.
• We discussed the key issues at the meeting.

使い方： key to something (Good communication is key to success.)

類義語： important, crucial, major

反対語： minor, unimportant

よく使う表現： key role, key factor, key issue, key player

入力する、打ち込む

キーボードのキーを押して、パソコンに情報を入力する。

やさしい英語で： To enter information into a computer by pressing buttons on a keyboard.

• Please key in your password.
• She keyed the figures into a spreadsheet.
• Have you keyed in all the addresses?

使い方： key something in (He keyed the code in carefully.); key something into something (She keyed the numbers into the computer.)

類義語： type, enter, input

よく使う表現： key in something, key something in, key into something

鍵で傷つける

車などの表面を鍵のような物でわざとひっかき、傷つける。

やさしい英語で： To deliberately damage a car or another surface by scratching it with a key or similar object.

• Someone keyed my car.
• His parked van was keyed overnight.
• The police caught a man keying vehicles outside the station.

類義語： scratch

よく使う表現： key a car, key someone’s car