Symbol vs. Key — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Symbol and Key
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Compare with Definitions
Symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different concepts and experiences.
Key
A notched and grooved, usually metal implement that is turned to open or close a lock.
Symbol
A mark or character used as a conventional representation of an object, function, or process, e.g. the letter or letters standing for a chemical element or a character in musical notation
The chemical symbol for helium is He
The symbol r in Figure 5 represents a gene which is ineffective
Key
A similar implement or an electronic device used for opening, winding, or starting something
The key of a wind-up alarm clock.
The new car's electronic key.
Symbol
A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract
The limousine was another symbol of his wealth and authority
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Key
A device, such as a wedge or pin, inserted to lock together mechanical or structural parts.
Symbol
Symbolize.
Key
A keycard.
Symbol
Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible
The lamb is a symbol of innocence.
Key
A determining factor in accomplishing or achieving something
One key to the store's success has been consistent customer service.
Symbol
An instance that typifies a broader pattern or situation
His striking out to end the rally was a symbol of everything that had gone wrong with the team over the past month.
Key
Something that provides access to or understanding of something else
The key to the mystery was a drug store receipt.
Symbol
A printed or written sign used to represent an operation, element, quantity, quality, or relation, as in mathematics or music.
Key
A set of answers to a test.
Symbol
(Psychology) An object or image that an individual unconsciously uses to represent repressed thoughts, feelings, or impulses
A phallic symbol.
Key
A table, gloss, or cipher containing correspondences, as for decoding or interpreting something.
Symbol
A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object.
$ is the symbol for dollars in the US and some other countries.
Chinese people use word symbols for writing.
Key
(Computers) A number used by a cryptographic algorithm to encrypt or decrypt data.
Symbol
A thing considered the embodiment of a concept or object.
The lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.
Key
(Architecture) The keystone in the crown of an arch.
Symbol
(linguistics) A type of noun whereby the form refers to the same entity independently of the context; a symbol arbitrarily denotes a referent. See also icon and index.
Key
A button or lever that is depressed to operate a machine.
Symbol
A summary of a dogmatic statement of faith.
The Apostles, Nicene Creed and the confessional books of Protestantism, such as the Augsburg Confession of Lutheranism are considered symbols.
Key
A button that is depressed to cause a corresponding character or function to be typed or executed by a typewriter or to be accepted as input by a computer.
Symbol
(crystallography) The numerical expression which defines a plane's position relative to the assumed axes.
Key
(Music) A button or lever that is depressed with the finger to produce or modulate the sound of an instrument, such as a clarinet or piano.
Symbol
(obsolete) That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty.
Key
A tonal system consisting of seven tones in fixed relationship to a tonic, having a characteristic key signature and being the structural foundation of the bulk of Western music; tonality.
Symbol
(obsolete) Share; allotment.
Key
The principal tonality of a work
An etude in the key of E.
Symbol
(programming) An internal identifier used by a debugger to relate parts of the compiled program to the corresponding names in the source code.
Key
The pitch of a voice or other sound.
Symbol
(telecommunications) A signalling event on a communications channel; a signal that cannot be further divided into meaningful information.
Key
A characteristic tone or level of intensity, as of a speech or sales campaign. Often used in combination
High-key.
Low-key.
Symbol
To symbolize.
Key
(Botany) A samara.
Symbol
A visible sign or representation of an idea; anything which suggests an idea or quality, or another thing, as by resemblance or by convention; an emblem; a representation; a type; a figure; as, the lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience.
A symbol is a sign included in the idea which it represents, e. g., an actual part chosen to represent the whole, or a lower form or species used as the representative of a higher in the same kind.
Key
An outline of the distinguishing characteristics of a group of organisms, used as a guide in taxonomic identification.
Symbol
Any character used to represent a quantity, an operation, a relation, or an abbreviation.
Key
(Basketball) An area at each end of the court between the baseline and the foul line and including the jump-ball circle at the foul line
A jump shot from the top of the key.
Symbol
An abstract or compendium of faith or doctrine; a creed, or a summary of the articles of religion.
Key
The act of replacing portions of a video or photograph containing a preselected color with material from a separate image, as by chroma key.
Symbol
That which is thrown into a common fund; hence, an appointed or accustomed duty.
They do their work in the days of peace . . . and come to pay their symbol in a war or in a plague.
Key
A low offshore island or reef, especially in the Gulf of Mexico; a cay.
Symbol
Share; allotment.
The persons who are to be judged . . . shall all appear to receive their symbol.
Key
A kilogram of marijuana, cocaine, or heroin.
Symbol
An abbreviation standing for the name of an element and consisting of the initial letter of the Latin or New Latin name, or sometimes of the initial letter with a following one; as, C for carbon, Na for sodium (Natrium), Fe for iron (Ferrum), Sn for tin (Stannum), Sb for antimony (Stibium), etc. See the list of names and symbols under Element.
Key
Of crucial importance; significant
Key decisions.
The key element of the thesis.
Symbol
To symbolize.
Key
To lock with a key.
Symbol
An arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance
Key
To be the determining or crucial factor in
A double that keyed a three-run rally in the fifth inning.
Symbol
Something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is invisible;
The eagle is a symbol of the United States
Key
(Architecture) To furnish (an arch) with a keystone.
Key
(Music) To regulate the pitch of.
Key
To bring into harmony; adjust or adapt
"achievement tests that are more clearly keyed to what students are held responsible for in high school" (New York Times).
Key
To cause to pay attention to
School officials who were keyed into the dietary needs of students.
Key
To supply with a key of correspondences or with corresponding references
Keyed the pages in the edited book to illustrations in the manuscript.
Key
To operate (a device), as for typesetting, by means of a keyboard.
Key
To enter (data) into a computer by means of a keyboard.
Key
To identify (a biological specimen).
Key
To vandalize or mar by scratching with a key
Vandals keyed the cars left in the parking garage.
Key
To produce, replace, or include by chroma key.
Key
To pay close attention; focus
Improved service by keying on customer complaints.
Keyed into the main points of the lecture.
Key
(Sports) To watch or cover an opposing player closely in an effort to limit the player's effectiveness. Used with on
"[She] still carries the burden of scoring ... even though opponents key on her throughout every game" (Josh Barr).
Key
To replace portions of a video or photograph containing a preselected color with material from a separate image, as by chroma key.
Key
An object designed to open and close a lock.
Key
An object designed to fit between two other objects (such as a shaft and a wheel) in a mechanism and maintain their relative orientation.
Key
A crucial step or requirement.
The key to solving this problem is persistence.
The key to winning a game
Key
A guide explaining the symbols or terminology of a map or chart; a legend.
The key says that A stands for the accounting department.
Key
A guide to the correct answers of a worksheet or test.
Some students cheated by using the answer key.
Key
(computing) One of several small, usually square buttons on a typewriter or computer keyboard, mostly corresponding to text characters.
Press the Escape key.
Key
(music)
Key
In musical instruments, one of the valve levers used to select notes, such as a lever opening a hole on a woodwind.
Key
In instruments with a keyboard such as an organ or piano, one of the levers, or especially the exposed front end of it, which are depressed to cause a particular sound or note to be produced.
Key
(music) A scale or group of pitches constituting the basis of a musical composition.
The key of B-flat major
Key
The lowest note of a scale; keynote.
Key
In musical theory, the total melodic and harmonic relations, which exist between the tones of an ideal scale, major or minor; tonality.
Key
In musical theory and notation, the tonality centering in a given tone, or the several tones taken collectively, of a given scale, major or minor.
Key
In musical notation, a sign at the head of a staff indicating the musical key.
Key
(figurative) The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.
Key
(advertising) A modification of an advertisement so as to target a particular group or demographic.
Key
(botany) An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, such as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara.
Key
(historical) A manual electrical switching device primarily used for the transmission of Morse code.
Key
(cryptography) A piece of information (e.g., a password or passphrase) used to encode or decode a message or messages.
Key
(internet) A password restricting access to an IRC channel.
Key
(databases) In a relational database, a field used as an index into another table (not necessarily unique).
Key
(computing) A value that uniquely identifies an entry in a container.
Key
(basketball) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line, the free-throw lane having formerly been narrower, giving the area the shape of a skeleton key hole.
He shoots from the top of the key.
Key
(biology) A series of logically organized groups of discriminating information which aims to allow the user to correctly identify a taxon.
Key
(architecture) A piece of wood used as a wedge.
Key
(architecture) The last board of a floor when laid down.
Key
(masonry) A keystone.
Key
That part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
Key
(rail transport) A wooden support for a rail on the bullhead rail system.
Key
The degree of roughness, or retention ability of a surface to have applied a liquid such as paint, or glue.
The door panel should be sanded down carefully to provide a good key for the new paint.
Key
(cartomancy) The thirty-third card of the Lenormand deck.
Key
(print and film) The black ink layer, especially in relation to the three color layers of cyan, magenta, and yellow. See also CMYK.
Key
A color to be masked or made transparent.
Key
.NET 2003 Developer's Cookbook|page=195
Key
One of a string of small islands.
The Florida Keys
Key
(slang) kilogram (especially of a recreational drug)
Key
Indispensable, supremely important.
He is the key player on his soccer team.
Key
Important, salient.
She makes several key points.
Key
To fit (a lock) with a key.
Key
To fit (pieces of a mechanical assembly) with a key to maintain the orientation between them.
Key
To mark or indicate with a symbol indicating membership in a class.
Key
(telegraphy and radio telegraphy) To depress (a telegraph key).
Key
(radio) To operate (the transmitter switch of a two-way radio).
Key
(computing) (more usually to key in) To enter (information) by typing on a keyboard or keypad.
Our instructor told us to key in our user IDs.
Key
(colloquial) To vandalize (a car, etc.) by scratching with an implement such as a key.
He keyed the car that had taken his parking spot.
Key
To link (as one might do with a key or legend).
Key
To be identified as a certain taxon when using a key.
Key
To modify (an advertisement) so as to target a particular group or demographic.
Key
To attune to; to set at; to pitch.
Key
To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.
Key
To prepare for plastering by adding the key that part of the plastering which is forced through between the laths and holds the rest in place.
Key
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.
Key
A small device which is inserted into a mechanism and turned like a key to fasten, adjust, or wind it; as, a watch key; a bed key; the winding key for a clock, etc.
Key
One of a set of small movable parts on an instrument or machine which, by being depressed, serves as the means of operating it; the complete set of keys is usually called the keyboard; as, the keys of a piano, an organ, an accordion, a computer keyboard, or of a typewriter. The keys may operate parts of the instrument by a mechanical action, as on a piano, or by closing an electrical circuit, as on a computer keyboard. See also senses 12 and 13.
Key
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.
Those who are accustomed to reason have got the true key of books.
Who keeps the keys of all the creeds.
Key
That part of a mechanism which serves to lock up, make fast, or adjust to position.
Key
A piece of wood used as a wedge.
Key
A keystone.
Key
A wedge to unite two or more pieces, or adjust their relative position; a cotter; a forelock.
Key
An indehiscent, one-seeded fruit furnished with a wing, as the fruit of the ash and maple; a samara; - called also key fruit.
Key
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.
Both warbling of one song, both in one key.
Key
Fig: The general pitch or tone of a sentence or utterance.
You fall at once into a lower key.
Key
A metallic lever by which the circuit of the sending or transmitting part of a station equipment may be easily and rapidly opened and closed; as, a telegraph key.
Key
Any device for closing or opening an electric circuit, especially as part of a keyboard, as that used at a computer terminal or teletype terminal.
Key
A simplified version or analysis which accompanies something as a clue to its explanation, a book or table containing the solutions to problems, ciphers, allegories, or the like;
Key
A word or other combination of symbols which serves as an index identifying and pointing to a particular record, file, or location which can be retrieved and displayed by a computer program; as, a database using multi-word keys. When the key is a word, it is also called a keyword.
Key
To fasten or secure firmly; to fasten or tighten with keys or wedges.
Key
To enter (text, data) using keys, especially those on a keyboard; to keyboard; as, to key the data in by hand.
Key
To adjust so as to be maximally effective in a particular situation; - of actions, plans, or speech; as, to key one's campaign speech to each local audience.
Key
To furnish with a key or keys.
Key
Essential; most important; as, the key fact in the inquiry; the president was the key player inthe negotiations.
Key
Metal device shaped in such a way that when it is inserted into the appropriate lock the lock's mechanism can be rotated
Key
Something crucial for explaining;
The key to development is economic integration
Key
Pitch of the voice;
He spoke in a low key
Key
Any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
Key
A kilogram of a narcotic drug;
They were carrying two keys of heroin
Key
A winged often one-seed indehiscent fruit as of the ash or elm or maple
Key
United States lawyer and poet who wrote a poem after witnessing the British attack on Baltimore during the War of 1812; the poem was later set to music and entitled `The Star-Spangled Banner' (1779-1843)
Key
A coral reef off the southern coast of Florida
Key
(basketball) a space (including the foul line) in front of the basket at each end of a basketball court; usually painted a different color from the rest of the court;
He hit a jump shot from the top of the key
He dominates play in the paint
Key
A list of answers to a test;
Some students had stolen the key to the final exam
Key
A list of words or phrases that explain symbols or abbreviations
Key
A generic term for any device whose possession entitles the holder to a means of access;
A safe-deposit box usually requires two keys to open it
Key
Mechanical device used to wind another device that is driven by a spring (as a clock)
Key
The central building block at the top of an arch or vault
Key
A lever that actuates a mechanism when depressed
Key
Identify as in botany or biology, for example
Key
Provide with a key;
We were keyed after the locks were changed in the building
Key
Vandalize a car by scratching the sides with a key;
His new Mercedes was keyed last night in the parking lot
Key
Regulate the musical pitch of
Key
Harmonize with or adjust to;
Key one's actions to the voters' prevailing attitude
Key
Serving as an essential component;
A cardinal rule
The central cause of the problem
An example that was fundamental to the argument
Computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure
Key
Effective; producing a desired effect;
The operative word
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