keypad

noun

key·​pad ˈkē-ˌpad 

1

: a small set of keys that is part of a larger keyboard or another device (such as a telephone or calculator)

The keyboards of costly computers … usually have a separate numeric keypad in addition to the usual numerals in the top row of any keyboard.

—Consumer Reports

This lets you operate your centrally located audio/video gear from anywhere in the house, either by a handheld remote control or a keypad built into the wall.

—Video Review

2

: a small, usually numerical keyboard

Deactivate the alarm by punching a code into the keypad mounted inside the house.

Using a handheld keypad, the salesperson presses a three-digit code to find specific tracks. For example, "147" might be a segment with maintenance tips for the Cadillac diesel engine.

—Jane Wollman

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

With four-wheel drive, a spray-in bedliner, and Ford's nifty keyless entry keypad, my Ranger comes out to $41,175. —Eric Stafford, Car and Driver, 26 May 2023

How to Select the Right Security System for Your Home Today’s home security systems are comprehensive tools with multiple cameras, sensors, and keypads. —Kaz Weida, Popular Mechanics, 28 Apr. 2023

The devices are usually plastic keypad overlays that look nearly identical to the card reader terminals themselves. —Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News, 16 Mar. 2023

The update would allow someone, for example, to hold up an iPhone camera in front of a microwave and move their finger across the keypad as the app labels and announces the text on the microwave’s buttons. —Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN, 16 May 2023

Colorful blooms also distract the eye from the high-tech keypad over the door handle. —Kelly Allen, House Beautiful, 5 May 2023

Sutherland designed it to be fully integrated into the home, placing keypads and control panels across different rooms to control a variety of functions. —Julia Malleck, Quartz, 5 May 2023

This applies even to supposedly high-tech security devices, which despite fingerprint scanners and slick keypads are often as poorly thought out as their analog predecessors. —Hazlitt, 5 Apr. 2023

Plus, these systems can offer entry for kids and visitors through keypads. —Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Mar. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1966, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

keypad

noun

key·​pad ˈkē-ˌpad 

: a small keyboard (as on a pocket calculator)