key into

English

Verb

key into (third-person singular simple present keys into, present participle keying into, simple past and past participle keyed into)

1. (transitive) To put (someone) into (a particular state, emotion etc.). [from 19th c.]
2. (intransitive) To cohere with; to accord with, to be in keeping with. [from 20th c.]
   • 2002, Mary Beard, The Parthenon, Profile Books, published 2010, page 144:

     [T]he sheer insistence here on these myths of Greek victory, and the repeated variations on the theme through different legendary cycles, key into the idea of the Parthenon as a monument of Athenian triumph.

3. (transitive) To make (someone) focus or concentrate on (something); to make (someone) understand. [from 20th c.]

   Walter wasn't on the same page as the rest of us at first, but we talked about it and keyed him into it.

Quotations

• 2023 September 30, Alexis Petridis, “U2 review – an utterly astonishing, admirably raw Vegas extravaganza”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London:

  at one point, Bono launches them into a slightly chaotic cover of Thin Lizzy’s Dancing in the Moonlight, “for all the Irish in the audience”, to the visible surprise of the bassist, Adam Clayton. It’s one of a number of unexpected diversions, some of which key into the entertainment history of their temporary home, although their brief charge through My Way audibly has more to do with Sid Vicious’s sneery take on the song than the version by the former Vegas stalwart Frank Sinatra.