Meanings
plural keys to the midway
- A fictional item, the subject of a fool's errand.
Near-synonyms: skyhook, left-handed monkey wrench, left-handed smoke shifter, blinker fluid, muffler bearing, relative bearing grease, pigeon's milk
Synonyms: skyhook, left-handed monkey wrench, left-handed smoke shifter, blinker fluid, muffler bearing, relative bearing grease, pigeon's milk
- A Ferris wheel or carousel, due to their central location.
“I’m a wheel man,” he says. “I’ve been crazy about Ferris wheels since I was a kid. The Ferris wheel is the key to the midway. When it’s up and running and the lights are on, everybody knows the show is open.”
1985, Rob Karwath, “The Gritty Side Of Life Along The Midway”, Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1985
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA fictional item, the subject of a fool's errand.
Origin
Carny slang, from the custom of sending a rube on a quest for the (non-existent) “key to the midway”.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
key to the midway. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/key%20to%20the%20midway
“key to the midway.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/key%20to%20the%20midway. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “key to the midway,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/key%20to%20the%20midway.
Source: key to the midway on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.