An item that is all to often misidentified, ignored or, among the gap toothed, used as a something of a dental hygiene device. In actuality, it is that key that you get with a new car that you don't know what to do with but seems little different from your regular key, other than that it usually posses a smaller head. This is also the key that inevitably gets lost prior to your tenure with said auto being over. Its purpose? It grants the holder access to the interior of the car and the ignition, but not the glove box (providing you locked it), the trunk or other lockable storage compartments. Just the sort of access that you'd like the valet charged with the care of your car to posses, eh? Not to be confused with the plethora of keys necessitated by the annoying habit that american car manufacturers have of using different locks on the door and the ignition.