keystroke

keystroke noun: the act of pressing an input key on a computer keyboard, typewriter, or similar input device.

Noun

keystroke (plural keystrokes)

The act of pressing an input key on a computer keyboard, typewriter, or similar input device.

Synonyms:

keypress
(broadly, informal) A keyboard shortcut.

keystroke (third-person singular simple present keystrokes, present participle keystroking, simple past and past participle keystroked)

To enter (data etc.) by pressing keys on a keyboard.
- I keystroked the entire manual, in addition to the keystroking done by the Technical Support and Test groups.1991, Leslie A. Olsen, Thomas N. Huckin, Technical Writing and Professional Communication, page 262
Synonyms:

key, key in

Noun
plural	keystrokes
Verb
third-person singular present	keystrokes
present participle	keystroking
past participle	keystroked
past	keystroked

From key + stroke.

What does keystroke mean?: Keystroke means the act of pressing an input key on a computer keyboard, typewriter, or similar input device.
What part of speech is keystroke?: Keystroke can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of keystroke?: The plural of keystroke is keystrokes.

Adapted from Wiktionary: keystroke (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: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-keystroke.wav.

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