keyhole

English

Etymology

From key +‎ hole.

Pronunciation

Audio (US) (file)

Noun

keyhole (plural keyholes)

The hole in a lock where the key is inserted and turns.
Any small opening resembling the hole for a key in shape or function.
A circle cut out of a garment as a decorative effect, typically at the front or back neckline of a dress.
(carpentry) A hole or excavation in beams intended to be joined together, to receive the key that fastens them.
(engineering) A mortise for a key or cotter.
(lasers) 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
(metallurgy) 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.
(basketball) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line; key.
(astronomy) A gravitational keyhole.

Translations

a hole to lock/unlock with a key

Armenian: բանալու անցք (banalu ancʿkʿ)
Bulgarian: ключалка (bg) f (ključalka)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 鎖孔／锁孔 (zh) (suǒkǒng), 鑰匙孔／钥匙孔 (yàoshi kǒng)
Czech: klíčová dírka f
Danish: nøglehul n
Dutch: sleutelgat (nl)
Esperanto: ŝlosiltruo
Finnish: avaimenreikä (fi)
French: trou de la serrure (fr) m
Galician: pechadura f, fechadura f, ferrollo (gl) m
Georgian: კლიტის ჭუჭრუტანა (ḳliṭis č̣uč̣ruṭana)
German: Schlüsselloch (de) n
Greek: κλειδαρότρυπα (el) f (kleidarótrypa)
Greenlandic: matuersaaserfik
Hebrew: חור המנעול‎ m (khor haman'úl)
Hungarian: kulcslyuk (hu)
Icelandic: skráargat n
Indonesian: lubang kunci (id)
Irish: poll eochrach m
Italian: toppa (it) f, buco della serratura m
Japanese: 鍵穴 (かぎあな, kagiana)
Khmer: please add this translation if you can
Korean: 열쇠 구멍 (yeolsoe gumeong)
Latin: claustellum n
Luxembourgish: Schlëssellach n
Macedonian: клучалка f (klučalka)
Malay: lubang kunci
Mongolian: цоожны нүх (coožny nüx)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: nøkkelhull n
Persian: سوراخ کلید‎ (surâx-e kelid)
Plautdietsch: Schlätelloch n
Polish: dziurka od klucza f
Portuguese: fechadura (pt) f, tranca (pt) f
Romanian: gaura cheii (ro) f
Russian: замо́чная сква́жина (ru) f (zamóčnaja skvážina)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: кључаоница f, кључница f
Roman: ključaonica (sh) f, ključnica f
Slovak: kľúčová dierka f
Slovene: ključanica f
Spanish: ojo (es) m
Swedish: nyckelhål (sv) n
Tagalog: susian, butas-susian
Tajik: сӯрохи калид (süroxi kalid)
Thai: รูกุญแจ
Tibetan: ལྡེ་ཁུང (lde khung)
Turkish: anahtar deliği
Vietnamese: lỗ khoá
Volapük: kikahog (vo)

Verb

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

(firearms) 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.

Derived terms

keyhole neckline
keyhole surgery
keyhole wound