Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

lock1

Syllabification: (lock)
Pronunciation: /läk/

Translate lock | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of lock

noun

  • 1a mechanism for keeping a door, lid, etc., fastened, typically operated only by a key of a particular form:the key turned firmly in the lock
  • a device used to prevent the operation or movement of a vehicle or other machine:a bicycle lock
  • (in wrestling and martial arts) a hold that prevents an opponent from moving a limb.
  • [in singular] archaic a number of interlocked or jammed items:a street closed by a lock of carriages
  • 2a short confined section of a canal or other waterway in which the water level can be changed by the use of gates and sluices, used for raising and lowering vessels between two gates.
  • an airlock.
  • 3 (a lock) informal a person or thing that is certain to succeed; a certainty.
  • 4 historical a mechanism for exploding the charge of a gun.

verb

  • 1 [with object] fasten or secure (something) with a lock:she closed and locked her desk (as adjective locked)behind locked doors
  • enclose or shut in by locking or fastening a door, lid, etc.:the prisoners are locked in overnight Phil locked away the takings every night
  • [no object] (of a door, window, box, etc.) become or be able to be secured through activation of a lock:the door will automatically lock behind you
  • 2make or become rigidly fixed or immovable: [with object]:he locked his hands behind her neck the vessel was locked in ice [no object]:their gaze locked for several long moments
  • 3 [no object] go through a lock on a canal:we locked through at Moore Haven

Phrases

have a lock on

informal have an unbreakable hold on or total control over.

lock horns

engage in conflict.

lock, stock, and barrel

including everything; completely:the place is owned lock, stock, and barrel by an oil company
[referring to the complete mechanism of a firearm]

under lock and key

securely locked up.

Phrasal Verbs

lock someone down

confine a prisoner to their cell, especially so as to gain control.

lock someone/something in (or into)

involve or entangle someone or something in (an embrace or struggle):they were locked in a legal battle
oblige a person or company to abide by the terms of a contract for a specific period.

lock onto

locate (a target) by radar or similar means and then track.

lock someone out

  • 1keep someone out of a room or building by locking the door.
  • 2(of an employer) subject employees to a lockout.

lock someone out of

exclude someone from:those now locked out of the job market

lock someone up (or away)

imprison someone.

lock something up (also lock up)

shut and secure something, especially a building, by fastening its doors with locks:the diplomatic personnel locked up their building and walked off you could lock up for me when you leave
(also lock something away) invest money in something so that it is not easily accessible:vast sums of money locked up in pension funds

Derivatives

lockable

adjective

lockless

adjective

Origin:

Old English loc, of Germanic origin; related to German Loch 'hole'

lock in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of lock in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

kempt

/ kɛm(p)t /
adjective
maintained in a neat and clean condition …