keyhole

English

Etymology

From key +‎ hole.

Noun

keyhole (plural keyholes)

1. The hole in a lock where the key is inserted and turns.
2. Any small opening resembling the hole for a key in shape or function.
3. A circle cut out of a garment as a decorative effect, typically at the front or back neckline of a dress.
4. (carpentry) A hole or excavation in beams intended to be joined together, to receive the key that fastens them.
5. (engineering) A mortise for a key or cotter.
6. (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

7. (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.
8. (basketball) The free-throw lane together with the circle surrounding the free-throw line; key.

Translations

a hole to lock/unlock with a key

• Armenian: բանալու անցք (banalu ancʿkʿ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鎖孔 (zh), 锁孔 (zh) (suǒkǒng), 鑰匙孔, 钥匙孔 (yàoshi kǒng)

• Czech: klíčová dírka f
• Dutch: sleutelgat (nl)
• Esperanto: ŝlosiltruo
• Finnish: avaimenreikä (fi)
• French: trou de la serrure (fr) m
• Georgian: კლიტის ჭუჭრუტანა (ḳliṭis č̣uč̣ruṭana)
• German: Schlüsselloch (de) n
• Greek: κλειδαρότρυπα (el) f (kleidarótrypa)
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: kulcslyuk (hu)
• Indonesian: lubang kunci (id)
• Irish: poll eochrach m
• Japanese: 鍵穴 (かぎあな, kagiana)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 열쇠 구멍 (yeolsoe gumeong)
• Latin: sera (la) f, pessuli m pl
• Luxembourgish: Schlëssellach n
• Macedonian: клучалка f (klúčalka)

• Malay: lubang kunci
• Mongolian: цоожны нүх (tsoožny nüh)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nøkkelhull n

• Persian: سوراخ کلید‏‎ (surâx-e kelid)
• Polish: dziurka od klucza f
• Portuguese: fechadura (pt) f, tranca (pt) f
• Russian: замо́чная сква́жина (ru) f (zamóčnaja skvážina)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кључаоница f, кључница f

  Roman: ključaonica (sh) f, ključnica f

• Slovene: ključanica f
• Spanish: ojo (es) m
• Swedish: nyckelhål n
• Tagalog: susian, butas-susian
• Tajik: сӯрохи калид (süroxi kalid)
• Thai: รูกุญแจ
• 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)

1. (ordnance) 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