key3 verb key3 [transitive]1 American English informal if you key a win for your team, you help it win a game because you play very well: Abdul keyed the game with three touchdowns.2 British EnglishTIC to prepare a surface so that a covering such as paint will stick to itkey something ??? in phrasal verbTDTD to put information into a computer or other machine, using buttons or a keyboard: Key in y