Skeleton key

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Skeleton key (disambiguation).

A skeleton key is either a key that has been altered in such a way as to bypass the security measures placed inside any warded lock, or another name for a 'bit' type key.

[edit] Security bypass

A skeleton key is one that has been filed or otherwise altered such that it can be used to unlock a variety of warded locks.

Please help improve this section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] 'Bit' type keys

A 'bit' type skeleton key.

The term "skeleton key" is also often used to describe 'bit' type keys. This usage perhaps stems from such keys' resemblance to a skeletal figure, with an open loop at its end distal to the lock into which it is inserted to open, and possessed of two or more teeth, projecting as perpendicular tusks off the slender shaft attached to the loop, with interstitial spaces approximating the width of each tooth, to engage the tumblers of the lock when inserted. The hole of it is most resemblant of a lion's shape in certain medieval heraldry, and likely draws its origin from same or vice versa. The lock's hole into which the skeleton key is inserted is fashioned in the shape of a circle at the top, with flared lines projecting down from it to form the sides of an isosceles triangle, the circle at the top then circumscribing the triangle at about one-third the vertical length of the two sides.

These keys were common in both cabinetry and door locks in early Colonial America and remained in common usage within the United States through the 1940s, giving way after World War II to the pin tumbler lock. It was uncommon to see skeleton keys and their locks formed of materials other than brass, although pewter was sometimes used as well. Most usually, skeleton keys today are associated with fine cabinetry, not other types of locks; they are insecure locks, not being capable of being ground to unique shapes to form a unique key pattern. Their common usage in earlier times therefore conveys the notion of less need for security than preoccupies the world today and since World War II, generally.