What does lock mean?
Definitions for lock
lɒklock
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word lock.
Princeton's WordNet
locknoun
a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed
lock, curl, ringlet, whorlnoun
a strand or cluster of hair
locknoun
a mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun
lock, lock chambernoun
enclosure consisting of a section of canal that can be closed to control the water level; used to raise or lower vessels that pass through it
lock, ignition locknoun
a restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key
lockverb
any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured
lockverb
fasten with a lock
"lock the bike to the fence"
engage, mesh, lock, operateverb
keep engaged
"engaged the gears"
lockverb
become rigid or immoveable
"The therapist noticed that the patient's knees tended to lock in this exercise"
lock, interlock, interlaceverb
hold in a locking position
"He locked his hands around her neck"
interlock, lockverb
become engaged or intermeshed with one another
"They were locked in embrace"
lockverb
hold fast (in a certain state)
"He was locked in a laughing fit"
lock in, lock away, lock, put away, shut up, shut away, lock upverb
place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape
"The parents locked her daughter up for the weekend"; "She locked her jewels in the safe"
lockverb
pass by means through a lock in a waterway
lockverb
build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Locknoun
Etymology: loc , Saxon, in both senses.
No gate so strong, no lock so firm and fast,
But with that piercing noise flew open quit or brast. F. Qu.We have locks to safeguard necessaries,
And pretty traps to catch the petty thieves. William Shakespeare.As there are locks for several purposes, so are there several inventions in locks, in contriving their wards or guards. Joseph Moxon.
A gun carries powder and bullets for seven charges and discharges: under the breech of the barrel is one box for the powder; a little before the lock, another for the bullets; behind the cock a charger, which carries the powder to the further end of the lock. Nehemiah Grew, Musæum.
They must be practised in all the locks and gripes of wrestling, as need may often be in fight to tugg or grapple, and to close. John Milton, on Education.
Sergesthus, eager with his beak to press
Betwixt the rival gally and the rock,
Shuts up th’ unwieldy centaur in the lock. John Dryden, Æn.Well might he perceive the hanging of her hair in locks, some curled, and some forgotten. Philip Sidney.
A goodly cypress, who bowing her fair head over the water, it seemed she looked into it, and dressed her green locks by that running river. Philip Sidney.
His grizly locks, long growen and unbound,
Disordered hung about his shoulders round. Fairy Qu.The bottom was set against a lock of wool, and the sound was quite deaded. Francis Bacon.
They nourish only a lock of hair on the crown of their heads. George Sandys, Travels.
A lock of hair will draw more than a cable rope. Nehemiah Grew.
Behold the locks that are grown white
Beneath a helmet in your father’s battels. Joseph Addison, Cato.Two locks graceful hung behind
In equal curls, and well-conspir’d, to deck
With shining ringlets her smooth iv’ry neck. Alexander Pope.I suppose this letter will find thee picking of daisies, or smelling to a lock of hay. Joseph Addison, Spectator.
To Lockverb
Etymology: from the noun.
The garden, seated on the level floor,
She left behind, and locking ev’ry door,
Thought all secure. Dryden.I am lockt in one of them;
If you do love me, you will find me out. William Shakespeare.We do lock
Our former sample in our strong-barr’d gates. William Shakespeare.Then seek to know those things which make us blest,
And having found them, lock them in thy breast. John Denham.The frighted dame
The log in secret lock’d. John Dryden, Ovid.If the door to a council be kept by armed men, and all such whose opinions are not liked kept out, the freedom of those within are infringed, and all their acts as void as if they were locked in. John Dryden, Æn.
One conduces to the poets completing of his work; the other slackens his pace, and locks him up like a knight-errant in an enchanted castle. John Dryden, Æn. Dedicat. to the.
The father of the gods
Confin’d their fury to those dark abodes,
And lock’d ’em safe within, oppress’d with mountain loads. John Dryden, Æn.If one third of the money in trade were locked up, must not the landholders receive one third less. John Locke.
Always lock up a cat in a closet where you keep your china plates, for fear the mice may steal in and break them. Jonathan Swift.
Your wine lock’d up,
Plain milk will do the feat. Alexander Pope, Horace.Death blasts his bloom, and locks his frozen eyes. John Gay.
To Lockverb
For not of wood, nor of enduring brass,
Doubly disparted it did lock and close,
That when it locked, none might through it pass. Fa. Qu.Either they lock into each other, or slip one upon another’s surface; as much of their surfaces touches as makes them cohere. Boyle.
ChatGPT
lock
A lock is a mechanical or electronic device which is used to secure an object, such as a door, drawer, or vehicle, by preventing access without the use of a key or a digital code. It is a security tool designed to protect objects from unauthorized access or theft.
Webster Dictionary
Locknoun
a tuft of hair; a flock or small quantity of wool, hay, or other like substance; a tress or ringlet of hair
Locknoun
anything that fastens; specifically, a fastening, as for a door, a lid, a trunk, a drawer, and the like, in which a bolt is moved by a key so as to hold or to release the thing fastened
Locknoun
a fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable
Locknoun
a place from which egress is prevented, as by a lock
Locknoun
the barrier or works which confine the water of a stream or canal
Locknoun
an inclosure in a canal with gates at each end, used in raising or lowering boats as they pass from one level to another; -- called also lift lock
Locknoun
that part or apparatus of a firearm by which the charge is exploded; as, a matchlock, flintlock, percussion lock, etc
Locknoun
a device for keeping a wheel from turning
Locknoun
a grapple in wrestling
Lockverb
to fasten with a lock, or as with a lock; to make fast; to prevent free movement of; as, to lock a door, a carriage wheel, a river, etc
Lockverb
to prevent ingress or access to, or exit from, by fastening the lock or locks of; -- often with up; as, to lock or lock up, a house, jail, room, trunk. etc
Lockverb
to fasten in or out, or to make secure by means of, or as with, locks; to confine, or to shut in or out -- often with up; as, to lock one's self in a room; to lock up the prisoners; to lock up one's silver; to lock intruders out of the house; to lock money into a vault; to lock a child in one's arms; to lock a secret in one's breast
Lockverb
to link together; to clasp closely; as, to lock arms
Lockverb
to furnish with locks; also, to raise or lower (a boat) in a lock
Lockverb
to seize, as the sword arm of an antagonist, by turning the left arm around it, to disarm him
Lockverb
to become fast, as by means of a lock or by interlacing; as, the door locks close
Etymology: [AS. locc; akin to D. lok, G. locke, OHG. loc, Icel. lokkr, and perh. to Gr. to bend, twist.]
Wikidata
Lock
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is the chamber itself that rises and falls. Locks are used to make a river more easily navigable, or to allow a canal to take a reasonably direct line across land that is not level.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Lock
lok, n. a device to fasten doors, &c.: an enclosure in a canal for raising or lowering boats: the part of a firearm by which it is discharged: a grapple in wrestling: a state of being immovable: any narrow, confined place.—v.t. to fasten with a lock: to fasten so as to impede motion: to shut up: to close fast: to embrace closely: to furnish with locks.—v.i. to become fast: to unite closely.—ns. Lock′age, the locks of a canal: the difference in their levels, the materials used for them, and the tolls paid for passing through them; Lock′-chain, a chain for fastening the wheels of a vehicle by tying the rims to some part which does not rotate; Lock′er, any closed place that may be locked; Lock′et, a little ornamental case of gold or silver, usually containing a miniature.—adj. Lock′fast, firmly fastened by locks.—ns. Lock′gate, a gate for opening or closing a lock in a canal or river; Lock′-hos′pital (see Hospital); Lock′house, the lock-keeper's house; Lock′-jaw, Locked′-jaw, a contraction of the muscles of the jaw by which its motion is suspended; Lock′-keep′er, one who keeps or attends the locks of a canal; Lock′out, the act of locking out, esp. used of the locking out of a teacher by the pupils or vice versâ, or of the refusal of an employer to admit his workmen within the works as a means of coercion; Locks′man, a turnkey; Lock′smith, a smith who makes and mends locks; Lock′stitch, a stitch formed by the locking of two threads together; Lock′up, a place for locking up or confining persons for a short time.—Not a shot in the locker (naut.), not a penny in the pocket. [A.S. loca, a lock; Ice. loka, a bolt, Ger. loch, a dungeon.]
Lock
lok, n. a tuft or ringlet of hair: a small quantity, as of hay: (Scots law) a quantity of meal, the perquisite of a mill-servant: (Shak.) a love-lock—n. Lock′man, an officer in the Isle of Man who acts as a kind of under-sheriff to the governor. [A.S. locc; Ice. lokkr, Ger. locke, a lock.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
lock
The striking instrument by which fire is produced for the discharge of a gun, containing the cock, the hammer, the pan, &c. It was first introduced in naval ordnance by Sir Charles Douglas, and has now given way to the detonating hammer and friction-tube, as the old match and the salamander did to the lock.
lock
A spelling of loch (which see). Also, the general name for any works made to confine or raise the water of a river; a canal inclosed between the sluice-gate above and the flood-gate below.
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
lock
That part of a fire-arm by which fire is produced for the discharge of a piece. The first form of the apparatus was the match-lock, which consisted of a lever holding a lighted match, which by a simple mechanism was brought in contact with the priming. This was superseded by the wheel-lock, invented in Nuremburg, or Italy, according to different authorities, which made its appearance early in the 16th century. This consisted of a wheel wound up against a spring and released by a trigger. In its revolution it evolved sparks by friction against an alloy of iron and antimony, which fell upon and ignited the priming. This was replaced about 1680 by the flint-lock, consisting of a hammer, or cock, holding a flint, which in its descent struck a steel plate. This device gave way in its turn, about 1840, to the percussion-lock, which, in one or another of its many forms, promises to endure indefinitely. The terms matchlock, flintlock, firelock, etc., have also been used to designate the weapon itself.
lock
In fencing, to seize, as the sword-arm of an antagonist, by turning the left arm around it, in order to disarm him.
Rap Dictionary
locknoun
Short for dreadlocks. Maintaining control or influence over something.
Suggested Resources
LOCK
What does LOCK stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the LOCK acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
LOCK
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Lock is ranked #5058 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Lock surname appeared 6,936 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 would have the surname Lock.
76.3% or 5,294 total occurrences were White.
10.8% or 753 total occurrences were Black.
6.9% or 481 total occurrences were Asian.
3% or 210 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
1.9% or 136 total occurrences were of two or more races.
0.8% or 62 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
British National Corpus
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'lock' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3152
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'lock' in Nouns Frequency: #1613
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'lock' in Verbs Frequency: #504
Anagrams for lock »
colk
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of lock in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of lock in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of lock in a Sentence
I think I've spoken a lot about this to Bill Barr, and we're totally in lock step with all of the many states that want to see much better health care.
From the jump, I think for the full 40 minutes, weve had games where we played 30 minutes of great defense or 35 and kind of let up a little bit. I think for a whole game, to really lock in and set a tone, it was really impressive.
A man who is 'of sound mind' is one who keeps the inner madman under lock and key.
Some Parkland teachers wanted to have a door lock that would be easily locked from the inside, most doors now can be locked externally using a key.
Their parents shouldn't even be locked up, this is not a bad enough crime to lock them up and take their children away.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for lock
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
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