key of the street

English

Noun

key of the street

  1. (humorous) An imaginary item said to be possessed by anyone who is locked outdoors.
    • 1907, The Dublin Review, volume 141, page 290:
      And all his literary life Dickens had the vision of the boy who was given the "key of the street" when other boys are at school.

References
  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary
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