Word.ws English Dictionary

keyhole

Syllables: key·hole/ˈkiˌhoʊ̯l/

keyhole noun: the hole in a lock where the key is inserted and turns.

keyhole: the hole in a lock where the key is inserted and turns
Image: Kritzolina, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

keyhole (plural keyholes)

  1. The hole in a lock where the key is inserted and turns.
    • The key-hole was still their port of egress and regress, and it resembled the aperture of a bee-hive, on a sunny day in June.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 306
  2. Any small opening resembling the hole for a key in shape or function; especially, one that gives a vista of, or access to, a space beyond.
    1. A small incision through which surgical instruments can reach into an anatomic space beyond.
  3. A circle cut out of a garment as a decorative effect, typically at the front or back neckline of a dress.
  4. A hole or excavation in beams intended to be joined together, to receive the key that fastens them.
  5. A mortise for a key or cotter.
  6. A transient column of vapor or plasma formed when using high energy beams, such as lasers, for welding or cutting.
    • laser keyhole welding
    • keyhole plasma
  7. A welding method in which a hole forms in the surface immediately ahead of the puddle in the direction of welding. The hole is filled as the weld progresses.
  8. The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line; key.
  9. A gravitational keyhole.

Verb

keyhole (third-person singular simple present keyholes, present participle keyholing, simple past and past participle keyholed)

  1. To strike a target after wobbling in flight so that the long axis of the bullet does not follow the line of flight, typically due to insufficient spin resulting from the rifling in the barrel.

keyhole meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Tagalog and Malay

keyhole in Tamil

திறவுகோல் துளை

keyhole in Urdu

چابی کے لئے سوراخ, قفل کا دہانہ

keyhole in Tagalog

a hole to lock/unlock with a key
susian, butas-susian

keyhole in Malay

a hole to lock/unlock with a key
lubang kunci
More languagesFewer languages
keyhole in Indonesian
lubang kunci
keyhole in Persian
سوراخ کلید surâx-e kelid
keyhole in Thai
รูกุญแจ
keyhole in Vietnamese
lỗ khoá

Forms of keyhole

Noun
pluralkeyholes
Verb
third-person singular presentkeyholes
present participlekeyholing
past participlekeyholed
pastkeyholed

Plural of keyhole: keyholes

Origin of keyhole

From key + hole.

Words formed from keyhole

Phrases with keyhole

Questions about keyhole

What does keyhole mean?
Keyhole means the hole in a lock where the key is inserted and turns.
What is keyhole in Tamil?
Keyhole in Tamil is திறவுகோல் துளை. See Keyhole meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is keyhole?
Keyhole can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce keyhole?
Keyhole is pronounced /ˈkiˌhoʊ̯l/ (US).
What is the plural of keyhole?
The plural of keyhole is keyholes.

Words near keyhole in the dictionary

  1. Keyham
  2. Keyhaven
  3. keyholder
  4. keyholders
  5. keyholding
  6. keyhole
  7. keyhole arch
  8. keyhole arches
  9. keyhole flies
  10. keyhole fly
  11. keyhole limpet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keyhole (page history and authors); keyhole (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); keyhole (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-keyhole.wav.

Cite this entry: “keyhole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keyhole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.