Meaning of lock in English

Table of contents
  1. Pronunciation
  2. Verb
    1. Definitions
  3. Noun
    1. Etymology
    2. Definitions

  1. Pronunciation

    /lɑk/

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    UK accent Play button

  1. Verb

    lock

    Definitions

    1. fasten with a lock

    Examples

    • « lock the bike to the fence »

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

  2. 2. keep engaged

    Examples

    • « engaged the gears »

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

  3. 3. become rigid or immoveable

    Examples

    • « The therapist noticed that the patient's knees tended to lock in this exercise »

    Antonyms

  4. 4. hold in a locking position

    Examples

    • « He locked his hands around her neck »

    Derived terms

  5. 5. become engaged or intermeshed with one another

    Examples

    • « They were locked in embrace »

    Derived terms

  6. 6. hold fast (in a certain state)

    Examples

    • « He was locked in a laughing fit »
  7. 7. place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape

    Examples

    • « The parents locked her daughter up for the weekend »
    • « She locked her jewels in the safe »

    Derived terms

  8. 8. pass by means through a lock in a waterway

    Derived terms

  9. 9. build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels

    Derived terms

  10. Noun

    lock

    Etymology

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

    Definitions

    1. a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed
  11. 2. a strand or cluster of hair

    Derived terms

  12. 3. a mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun
  13. 4. enclosure consisting of a section of canal that can be closed to control the water level

    Examples

    • « used to raise or lower vessels that pass through it »
  14. 5. a restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key
  15. 6. any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured

    Derived terms

Famous quotes

  • « I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three. »
    Elayne Boosler
  • « Jail didn't make me find God, He's always been there. They can lock me up, but my spirit and my love can never be confined to prison walls. »
    Lil Wayne
  • « The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is truly free. First, society begins by trying to beat you up. If this fails, they try to poison you. If this fails too, the finish by loading honors on your head. »
    Jean Cocteau
  • « Our songs touch people, and take them back to a time when there was no threat of terrorism, when you didn't have to lock your doors and when Mom and Dad took care of everything. »
    George Grove
  • « The trouble with wedlock is that there's not enough wed and too much lock. »
    Christopher Morley

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