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