Meaning & use
fob key
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small handheld device, often with buttons, that sends a radio signal to lock or unlock a car or open a door.
Grammar: Countable: use a fob key or the fob key, and the plural fob keys.
Patterns
- press a fob key
- use a fob key to do something
- a fob key for something
She pressed the fob key twice and the car lights blinked.
If the fob key battery dies, you can still unlock the door with the metal key inside.
nouncountabletechnical
A small object attached to a key ring that carries an electronic chip for identification, such as for a hotel room or office door.
Grammar: Countable and often used with an of-phrase: a fob key for the office.
Patterns
- a fob key for something
- hold a fob key near something
- an electronic fob key
Hold the fob key near the reader and the door will click open.
Each guest gets a fob key for the room instead of a card.
Word forms
| plural | fob keys |
|---|
Common combinations
- press the fob key
- Press the fob key once to lock the doors.
- fob key battery
- The fob key battery needs replacing about once a year.
- electronic fob key
- The building uses an electronic fob key instead of ordinary keys.
- spare fob key
- We keep a spare fob key in the kitchen drawer.
- fob key reader
- Wave the tag in front of the fob key reader.
Synonyms and how they differ
- key fob
- The more common everyday term, and the one usually printed on car manuals; it means the same thing.
- remote
- Used mainly for the device that locks a car from a distance; it does not usually suggest a chip for doors.
- tag
- A small flat device you wave at a reader; it is often not shaped like a key at all.
Word family
Commonly confused: fob key or key fob? fob key or USB key?
fob key vs key fob
Key fob is the usual order in everyday English; fob key appears mostly in technical writing and product descriptions, but both mean the same device.
fob key vs USB key
A USB key is a storage device for computers, not a device for opening doors or cars.
Practice
Which sentence uses "fob key" correctly?
Choose one answer.
"Fob key" is a countable noun, so "the fob key" works for one device, and "to unlock her car" is a natural purpose phrase. Option 2 has a missing apostrophe, option 3 wrongly uses a plural for one device, and option 4 is possible in grammar but sounds odd because a specific device is meant, so the definite article is the natural choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fob key”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.