skeleton key
noun
plural skeleton keys
: a key with a large part of the bit filed away to enable it to open low quality locks as a master key
called also passkey
Examples of skeleton key in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Its teenage characters, scheming to realize their dead friend’s dream of moving to California, are a skeleton key that unlocks a multigenerational Indigenous community.
—
Judy Berman, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
Other oddities and relics the designers say add to the vintage Halloween theme include skeleton keys, cracked teacups, magnifying glasses, and even hats that look like they've been left behind.
—Maria Sabella, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Sep. 2025
Back then, many conservatives treated the Epstein files as a skeleton key promising cataclysmic revelations about elite depravity and corruption.
—Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
The revelation raised the possibility that an unknown entity had obtained the cryptographic equivalent of a skeleton key that could be used to surreptitiously decrypt millions of users’ DNS queries that were encrypted through DNS over TLS or DNS over HTTPS.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 4 Sep. 2025
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Judy Berman, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
Other oddities and relics the designers say add to the vintage Halloween theme include skeleton keys, cracked teacups, magnifying glasses, and even hats that look like they've been left behind.
—Maria Sabella, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Sep. 2025
Back then, many conservatives treated the Epstein files as a skeleton key promising cataclysmic revelations about elite depravity and corruption.
—Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025
The revelation raised the possibility that an unknown entity had obtained the cryptographic equivalent of a skeleton key that could be used to surreptitiously decrypt millions of users’ DNS queries that were encrypted through DNS over TLS or DNS over HTTPS.
—Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for skeleton key
Cite this Entry
“Skeleton key.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skeleton%20key. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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