SKELETON KEY • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Skeleton key

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/skˈɛlətən ki/ Listen

Skeleton key

noun

A passkey with much of the bit filed away so that it can open different locks.

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Etymology of 'Skeleton key'

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"Skeleton key" Quotes from Famous Books

... arm, a skeleton key was selected from the bunch, and then back went his arm to the shoulder. It was a breathless moment. I heard the heart throbbing in my body, the very watch ticking in my pocket, and ever and anon the tinkle-tinkle of the skeleton key. Then—at last—there ...

— The Amateur Cracksman • E. W. Hornung

... have fancied that gloves were a kind of passport, or perhaps a skeleton key guaranteed to open principals' doors. It was Mr. Smith who first made me feel that there was a connection between morals, respectability, and cold baths. To miss the morning tub, as Mr. Smith saw it, was not merely a calamity but also a disgrace; a thing to make one ashamed; a lapse calculated ...

— The Record of Nicholas Freydon - An Autobiography • A. J. (Alec John) Dawson

Words linked to "Skeleton key" : passkey, master key, passe-partout, master