"master key" meaning in English

See master key in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-master key.ogg Forms: master keys [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} master key (plural master keys)
  1. A key designed to open a set of several locks; a passkey. Related terms: skeleton key Translations (key that opens several locks): шперц (šperc) [masculine] (Bulgarian), moedersleutel [masculine] (Dutch), loper [masculine] (Dutch), yleisavain (Finnish), passe-partout [masculine] (French), passepartout [masculine] (French), passe [masculine] (French), Generalschlüssel [masculine] (German), Hauptschlüssel [masculine] (German), Zentralschlüssel [masculine] (German), Passepartout [masculine] (German), tolvajkulcs (Hungarian), álkulcs (Hungarian), 親鍵 (oyakagi) (Japanese), калауз (kalauz) [masculine] (Macedonian), kunci induk (Malay), ard-ogher [feminine] (Manx), chave mestra [feminine] (Portuguese), llave maestra [feminine] (Spanish), huvudnyckel [common-gender] (Swedish), liyabe-maestra (Tagalog)
    Sense id: en-master_key-en-noun-5oh9GUw7 Disambiguation of 'key that opens several locks': 85 10 5
  2. (figurative) Any tool or technique that can solve many types of difficulty. Tags: figuratively Translations (tool that can solve many types of difficulty): yleistyökalu (Finnish), passe-partout [masculine] (French), passepartout [masculine] (French)
    Sense id: en-master_key-en-noun-FKbv5H-E Disambiguation of 'tool that can solve many types of difficulty': 4 95 2
  3. (law enforcement, slang) A shotgun shell designed for breaching doors. Tags: slang Categories (topical): Law enforcement Translations (shotgun shell): patruuna oven avaamiseen (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-master_key-en-noun-45hZ5Kc3 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Japanese translations, Terms with Macedonian translations, Terms with Malay translations, Terms with Manx translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Tagalog translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 18 35 47 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 16 30 54 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 16 23 61 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 8 36 56 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 13 24 62 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 15 27 58 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 14 26 60 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 14 26 61 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 14 26 60 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 24 22 55 Disambiguation of Terms with Japanese translations: 12 27 62 Disambiguation of Terms with Macedonian translations: 14 26 60 Disambiguation of Terms with Malay translations: 14 26 60 Disambiguation of Terms with Manx translations: 14 26 60 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 14 24 62 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 10 22 68 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 13 26 61 Disambiguation of Terms with Tagalog translations: 14 26 60 Topics: government, law-enforcement Disambiguation of 'shotgun shell': 4 2 95

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "master keys",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "master key (plural master keys)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A key designed to open a set of several locks; a passkey."
      ],
      "id": "en-master_key-en-noun-5oh9GUw7",
      "links": [
        [
          "set",
          "set"
        ],
        [
          "lock",
          "lock"
        ],
        [
          "passkey",
          "passkey"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0 0",
          "word": "skeleton key"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "šperc",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "шперц"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "moedersleutel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "loper"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "word": "yleisavain"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "passe-partout"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "passepartout"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "passe"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Generalschlüssel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Hauptschlüssel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Zentralschlüssel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Passepartout"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "word": "tolvajkulcs"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "word": "álkulcs"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "oyakagi",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "word": "親鍵"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "kalauz",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "калауз"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "ms",
          "lang": "Malay",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "word": "kunci induk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "gv",
          "lang": "Manx",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "ard-ogher"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "chave mestra"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "llave maestra"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "huvudnyckel"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "85 10 5",
          "code": "tl",
          "lang": "Tagalog",
          "sense": "key that opens several locks",
          "word": "liyabe-maestra"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Any tool or technique that can solve many types of difficulty."
      ],
      "id": "en-master_key-en-noun-FKbv5H-E",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Any tool or technique that can solve many types of difficulty."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 95 2",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "tool that can solve many types of difficulty",
          "word": "yleistyökalu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 95 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "tool that can solve many types of difficulty",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "passe-partout"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "4 95 2",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "tool that can solve many types of difficulty",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "passepartout"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Law enforcement",
          "orig": "en:Law enforcement",
          "parents": [
            "Crime prevention",
            "Emergency services",
            "Law",
            "Crime",
            "Public safety",
            "Justice",
            "Criminal law",
            "Society",
            "Public administration",
            "Security",
            "All topics",
            "Government",
            "Fundamental",
            "Politics"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "18 35 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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        },
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          "_dis": "16 30 54",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "16 23 61",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "8 36 56",
          "kind": "other",
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        {
          "_dis": "15 27 58",
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        {
          "_dis": "14 26 60",
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        {
          "_dis": "14 26 61",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 26 60",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "24 22 55",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 27 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 26 60",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Macedonian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 26 60",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Malay translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 26 60",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Manx translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 24 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "10 22 68",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "13 26 61",
          "kind": "other",
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          "_dis": "14 26 60",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Tagalog translations",
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        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A shotgun shell designed for breaching doors."
      ],
      "id": "en-master_key-en-noun-45hZ5Kc3",
      "links": [
        [
          "law enforcement",
          "law enforcement"
        ],
        [
          "shotgun",
          "shotgun"
        ],
        [
          "shell",
          "shell"
        ],
        [
          "breach",
          "breach"
        ],
        [
          "door",
          "door"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(law enforcement, slang) A shotgun shell designed for breaching doors."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "law-enforcement"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 2 95",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "shotgun shell",
          "word": "patruuna oven avaamiseen"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-master key.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/f0/En-au-master_key.ogg/En-au-master_key.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/En-au-master_key.ogg"
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  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Master keying"
  ],
  "word": "master key"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Japanese translations",
    "Terms with Macedonian translations",
    "Terms with Malay translations",
    "Terms with Manx translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Tagalog translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "master keys",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "master key (plural master keys)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "skeleton key"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A key designed to open a set of several locks; a passkey."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "set",
          "set"
        ],
        [
          "lock",
          "lock"
        ],
        [
          "passkey",
          "passkey"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Any tool or technique that can solve many types of difficulty."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Any tool or technique that can solve many types of difficulty."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "en:Law enforcement"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A shotgun shell designed for breaching doors."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "law enforcement",
          "law enforcement"
        ],
        [
          "shotgun",
          "shotgun"
        ],
        [
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        [
          "breach",
          "breach"
        ],
        [
          "door",
          "door"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(law enforcement, slang) A shotgun shell designed for breaching doors."
      ],
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        "government",
        "law-enforcement"
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/En-au-master_key.ogg"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "šperc",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "шперц"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "moedersleutel"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "loper"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "word": "yleisavain"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "passe-partout"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "passepartout"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "passe"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Generalschlüssel"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Hauptschlüssel"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Zentralschlüssel"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Passepartout"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "word": "tolvajkulcs"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "word": "álkulcs"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "oyakagi",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "word": "親鍵"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "kalauz",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "калауз"
    },
    {
      "code": "ms",
      "lang": "Malay",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "word": "kunci induk"
    },
    {
      "code": "gv",
      "lang": "Manx",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "ard-ogher"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "chave mestra"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "llave maestra"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "huvudnyckel"
    },
    {
      "code": "tl",
      "lang": "Tagalog",
      "sense": "key that opens several locks",
      "word": "liyabe-maestra"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "tool that can solve many types of difficulty",
      "word": "yleistyökalu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "tool that can solve many types of difficulty",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "passe-partout"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "tool that can solve many types of difficulty",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "passepartout"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "shotgun shell",
      "word": "patruuna oven avaamiseen"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Master keying"
  ],
  "word": "master key"
}

Download raw JSONL data for master key meaning in English (4.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.