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Definition of Skeleton key
1. Noun. A passkey with much of the bit filed away so that it can open different locks.
Definition of Skeleton key
1. Noun. A very simple design of key that usually has a cylindrical shaft (sometimes called a "shank") and a single, minimal flat, rectangular tooth or "bit". ¹
2. Noun. A key that has parts filed away so that it will open a range of locks ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Skeleton Key
Literary usage of Skeleton key
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge by Charles Knight (1851)
"4. sents a key for a solid-warded lock, which might, however, be easily picked
by a skeleton key resembling r, Fig. 6. The greater complication of the wards ..."
2. The English Cyclopaedia by Charles Knight (1867)
"4. a solid-warded lock, which might, however, be easily picked by a skeleton key
resembling r, Fig. 6. The greater complication of "the wards in m, Fig. ..."
3. The Supplement to the Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of by George Long, Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Great Britain) (1846)
"... the only part essential to the moving of the bolt being the extremity of the
bit, which i« retained in the skeleton key with nothing but a slender piece ..."
4. Bookkeeping Excercises for Accountant Students by Lawrence Robert Dicksee (1904)
"skeleton key. . ' \ . 46.—Totals of Trial Balance, £122326. Gross Profit, £24059.
Net Profit, £8447 ( Balance of Profit and Loss Account, £9472. ..."
5. The Cold Storage Baby ... 1908: A Lawyer's Text-book on Honest Money and by Denis O'Sullivan (1908)
"... BANKERS' skeleton key No GOVERNMENT should issue "currency," or permit it to
be issued, if it is able to issue money, or certificates showing it has ..."
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