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MORE ABOUT ESCAPE KEY
What is the escape key?
The escape key is a key on a computer keyboard that is used to cancel various actions, such as interrupting a process or closing a program.
The escape key is a key on most standard keyboard layouts, regardless of the language or characters used. Especially in Latin character-based layouts, the escape key is frequently located in the top left corner of the keyboard. It may be labeled as Esc, ESC, esc, or something similar.
The escape key is frequently used in word-processing programs, media players, command prompts, programming language interfaces, video games, calculators, and similar complex applications. It may close a pop-up window, pause action, cancel an auto-fill prompt, and more.
It is sometimes written as Escape key or ESCAPE key.
Example: Ugh, the escape key on my new keyboard keeps sticking.
Where does escape key come from?
The first records of the term escape key come from around the 1980s. It combines the term escape, meaning “to get away,” and key, meaning “a marked part on a computer terminal that is pressed to direct the computer to perform an action.”
The escape key was initially developed by Bob Bemer, an IBM programmer in the 1960s. During the early days of computer programming, different computer manufacturers used different types of code, which made developing and programming computers difficult and time-consuming. The escape key was initially used as a way for programmers to leave, or “escape,” one type of coding and enter another.
Because computer technology and keyboards with escape keys have become so ubiquitous, phrases and idioms referencing the escape key have found their way into slang. For example, you might say “Let’s hit the escape key” when you and your friend are ready to leave a place or when you give up trying to do something.
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What are some other forms related to escape key?
- Escape key (alternative spelling)
What are some synonyms for escape key?
- Esc key
What are some words that share a root or word element with escape key?
What are some words that often get used in discussing the escape key?
How is escape key used in real life?
Escape key is usually in discussions about computers and programs running on them. It can occasionally be used in figurative phrases informally.
just went back to a macbook without touch bar and it feels SO GOOD to have all those physical keys back … i missed my escape key. and mute…. and volume … and just all of them … and they are always in the same spot and never randomly change functions…. i am happy
— Zedd (@Zedd) May 15, 2018
If hitting the escape key doesn’t make your annoying newsletter popup go away, you are bad and should feel bad.
— s.e. smith 🐀 (@sesmith) September 13, 2019
I keep hitting the escape key, yet here I still am on Earth
— rstevens 🐳💨 (@rstevens) July 15, 2015
Try using escape key!
True or False?
The escape key is commonly used to close programs and interrupt processes on a computer.
How to use Escape key in a sentence
Getting men to do their share of care and domestic work is a key overlooked strategy in reducing poverty.How Good Dads Can Change the World|Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
By contrast, Solomon can tell us a great deal about what really changed the country—because at key moments, he was there.The Real Story Behind the Fight for Marriage Equality|E.J. Graff|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After the captain made the call to abandon ship, 150 people were able to escape on lifeboats lowered by electronic arms.‘We’re Going to Die’: Survivors Recount Greek Ferry Fire Horror|Barbie Latza Nadeau|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The second lesson is that no one writing before the twentieth century holds a key to our problems.American Democracy Under Threat for 250 Years|Jedediah Purdy|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The irony did not escape one local, Laith Hathim, as he stood and watched the newly minted refugees make their way into Mosul.Has the Kurdish Victory at Sinjar Turned the Tide of ISIS War?|Niqash|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
"Capital, capital," his lordship would remark with great alacrity, when there was no other way of escape.The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Mr. Jones swung round a large iron key he held in his hand, and light dawned upon him.Elster's Folly|Mrs. Henry Wood
Mr. Collingwood, taking the key from his mother, locked the little door in the boarding, after them.The Boarded-Up House|Augusta Huiell Seaman
About her neck was hung a covered basket and a door-key; and Davy at once concluded that she was Sindbad's house-keeper.Davy and The Goblin|Charles E. Carryl
The girl smiled, and drew out a large key, and nodded, still smiling as she replaced it.Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu