skeleton key

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Microsoft should not have had a single skeleton key that, when inevitably stolen, could be used to forge access to different customers’ private communications.”

From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2023

Those looking for a felt skeleton key to unlock his various idiosyncrasies aren’t likely to find one.

From New York Times • Mar. 11, 2023

Their relationship, according to “The Last of Us” co-creator and executive producer Craig Mazin, is “ultimately … the skeleton key to unlock all of this show.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 1, 2023

This word—“predations,” which Shapiro deployed repeatedly—is the skeleton key to this entire debate.

From Slate • Mar. 2, 2022

And lots of things I’ve collected: shells, rocks, a tiny glass elephant, a blackened old skeleton key my grandmother found in a chest but which unlocks nothing.

From "Rules" by Cynthia Lord