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clé — meaning in English

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English meaning

  • key noun A shaped piece of metal used to open or lock a particular lock.
  • radical adjective Favoring extreme, fundamental change, especially in politics or society.
  • spanner noun A hand tool used to grip and turn nuts and bolts (called a "wrench" in American English).
  • wrench noun US: a hand tool used to grip and turn nuts, bolts, or pipes; called a spanner in British English.

Senses

clé is used for these senses in English:

  • clef (music) A symbol found on a musical staff that indicates the pitches represented by the lines and the spaces on the staff [from Template:SAFESUBST: c.]
  • key A small guide explaining symbols or terminology, especially the legend on a map or chart.
  • key In instruments with a keyboard such as an organ or piano, one of the levers, or especially the exposed front end of it, which are depressed to cause a particular sound or note to be produced.
  • key (music) A scale or group of pitches constituting the basis of a musical composition.
  • radical (linguistics) In logographic writing systems such as the Chinese writing system, the portion of a character (if any) that provides an indication of its meaning, as opposed to phonetic.
  • spanner (Commonwealth, UK, Irish) A hand tool for adjusting nuts and bolts.
  • wrench (US, Canada, Philippines) A hand tool for making rotational adjustments, such as fitting nuts and bolts, or fitting pipes. [from 18th c.]

key — full definition

  1. noun A shaped piece of metal used to open or lock a particular lock.
  2. noun The single most important factor or step needed to achieve something.
  3. noun One of the buttons pressed to type on a keyboard or play a musical instrument.
  4. noun A short guide listing what the symbols, colours, or abbreviations on a map, chart, or test mean.
  5. noun In music, the set of related notes a piece is built around, giving it its overall tonal centre.

radical — full definition

  1. adjective Favoring extreme, fundamental change, especially in politics or society.
  2. adjective Thorough and far-reaching; affecting the most basic or essential part of something.
  3. noun A person who holds extreme or fundamentally reforming political views.
  4. noun In chemistry, a group of atoms that behaves as a single unit in reactions (often short for "free radical").

Related French words