Adjacent Words

Lock definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LOCK, n. [L. floccus, Eng. lock.]
1. Lock, in its primary sense, is any thing that fastens; but we now appropriate the word to an instrument composed of a spring, wards, and a bolt of iron or steel, used to fasten doors, chests and the like. The bolt is moved by a key.
2. The part of a musket or fowling-piece or other fire-arm, which contains the pan, trigger, etc.
3. The barrier or works of a canal, which confine the water, consisting of a dam, banks or walls, with two gates or pairs of gates, which may be opened or shut at pleasure.
4. A grapple in wrestling.
5. Any inclosure.
6. A tuft of hair; a plexus of wool, hay or other like substance; a flock; a ringlet of hair.
A lock of hair will draw more than a cable rope.
Lock of water, is the measure equal to the contents of the chamber of the locks by which the consumption of water on a canal is estimated.
LOCK'-KEEPER, n. One who attends the locks of a canal.
LOCK'-PADDLE, n. A small sluse that serves to fill and empty a lock.
LOCK'-SIL, n. An angular piece of timber at the bottom of a lock, against which the gates shut.
LOCK'-WEIR, n. A paddle-weir, in canals, an over-fall behind the upper gates, by which the waste water of the upper pound is let down through the paddle-holes into the chamber of the lock.
LOCK, v.t.
1. To fasten with a particular instrument; as, to lock a door; to lock a trunk.
2. To shut up or confine, as with a lock; as, to be locked in a prison. Lock the secret in your breast.
3. To close fast. The frost locks up our rivers.
4. To embrace closely; as, to lock one in the arms.
5. To furnish with locks, as a canal.
6. To confine; to restrain. Our shipping was locked up by the embargo.
7. In fencing, to seize the sword-arm of an antagonist, by turning the left arm around it, after closing the parade, shell to shell, in order to disarm him.
LOCK, v.i.
1. To become fast. The door locks close.
2. To unite closely by mutual insertion; as, they lock into each other.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed
2: a strand or cluster of hair [syn: lock, curl, ringlet, whorl]
3: a mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun
4: 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 [syn: lock, lock chamber]
5: a restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key [syn: lock, ignition lock]
6: any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured v
1: fasten with a lock; "lock the bike to the fence" [ant: unlock]
2: keep engaged; "engaged the gears" [syn: engage, mesh, lock, operate] [ant: disengage, withdraw]
3: become rigid or immoveable; "The therapist noticed that the patient's knees tended to lock in this exercise" [ant: unlock]
4: hold in a locking position; "He locked his hands around her neck" [syn: lock, interlock, interlace]
5: become engaged or intermeshed with one another; "They were locked in embrace" [syn: interlock, lock]
6: hold fast (in a certain state); "He was locked in a laughing fit"
7: 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" [syn: lock in, lock away, lock, put away, shut up, shut away, lock up]
8: pass by means through a lock in a waterway
9: build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English lok, from Old English locc; akin to Old High German loc lock, Greek lygos withe, Latin luxus dislocated Date: before 12th century 1. a. a tuft, tress, or ringlet of hair b. plural the hair of the head 2. a cohering bunch (as of wool, cotton, or flax) ; tuft 3. plural dreadlock 2 II. noun Etymology: Middle English lok, from Old English loc; akin to Old High German loh enclosure and perhaps to Old English locc lock of hair Date: before 12th century 1. a. a fastening (as for a door) operated by a key or a combination b. the mechanism for exploding the charge or cartridge of a firearm 2. a. an enclosure (as in a canal) with gates at each end used in raising or lowering boats as they pass from level to level b. air lock 3. a. a locking or fastening together b. an intricate mass of objects impeding each other (as in a traffic jam) c. a hold in wrestling secured on one part of the body; broadly a controlling hold <his paper…had a lock on a large part of the state — John Corry> 4. one that is assured of success or favorable outcome III. verb Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to fasten the lock of b. to make fast with or as if with a lock <lock up the house> 2. a. to fasten in or out or to make secure or inaccessible by or as if by means of locks <locked himself away from the curious world> <locked her husband out> b. to fix in a particular situation or method of operation <a team firmly locked in last place> 3. a. to make fast, motionless, or inflexible especially by the interlacing or interlocking of parts <lock wheels> <lock a knee> b. to hold in a close embrace c. to grapple in combat; also to bind closely <administration and students were locked in conflict> 4. to invest (capital) without assurance of easy convertibility into money 5. to move or permit to pass (as a ship) by raising or lowering in a lock intransitive verb 1. a. to become locked b. to be capable of being locked 2. interlace, interlock 3. to go or pass by means of a lock (as in a canal) • lockable adjective

Britannica Concise

Mechanical or electronic device for securing a door or receptacle so that it cannot be opened except by a key or a code. The lock originated in the Middle East; the oldest known example was found near Nineveh. Possibly 4,000 years old, it is of the pin tumbler type, otherwise known as an Egyptian lock. The Romans were the first to use metal locks and to make small keys for them. They also invented wards, projections in the keyhole that prevent a key from turning unless it has slots that avoid the projections. Probably the most familiar lock today is the cylinder lock, a pin tumbler lock opened by a flat key with a serrated edge; the serrations raise pins in the cylinder to the proper heights, allowing the cylinder to turn. Also common are the unit lock, housed within a rectangular notch cut into the edge of a door, and the mortise lock, housed in a mortise cut into the door edge, the lock mechanism being covered on both sides. Other types include lever and combination locks. Electronic locks that open with a magnetic card key are popular for banks, hotel rooms, and offices.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a mechanism for fastening a door, lid, etc., with a bolt that requires a key of a particular shape, or a combination of movements (see combination lock), to work it. 2 a confined section of a canal or river where the level can be changed for raising and lowering boats between adjacent sections by the use of gates and sluices. 3 a the turning of the front wheels of a vehicle to change its direction of motion. b (in full full lock) the maximum extent of this. 4 an interlocked or jammed state. 5 Wrestling a hold that keeps an opponent's limb fixed. 6 (in full lock forward) Rugby Football a player in the second row of a scrum. 7 an appliance to keep a wheel from revolving or slewing. 8 a mechanism for exploding the charge of a gun. 9 = airlock 2. --v. 1 a tr. fasten with a lock. b tr. (foll. by up) shut and secure (esp. a building) by locking. c intr. (of a door, window, box, etc.) have the means of being locked. 2 tr. (foll. by up, in, into) enclose (a person or thing) by locking or as if by locking. 3 tr. (often foll. by up, away) store or allocate inaccessibly (capital locked up in land). 4 tr. (foll. by in) hold fast (in sleep or enchantment etc.). 5 tr. (usu. in passive) (of land, hills, etc.) enclose. 6 tr. & intr. make or become rigidly fixed or immovable. 7 intr. & tr. become or cause to become jammed or caught. 8 tr. (often in passive; foll. by in) entangle in an embrace or struggle. 9 tr. provide (a canal etc.) with locks. 10 tr. (foll. by up, down) convey (a boat) through a lock. 11 intr. go through a lock on a canal etc. Phrases and idioms: lock-keeper a keeper of a lock on a river or canal. lock-knit knitted with an interlocking stitch. lock-nut Mech. a nut screwed down on another to keep it tight. lock on to locate or cause to locate by radar etc. and then track. lock out 1 keep (a person) out by locking the door. 2 (of an employer) submit (employees) to a lockout. lock step marching with each person as close as possible to the one in front. lock stitch a stitch made by a sewing-machine by firmly locking together two threads or stitches. lock, stock, and barrel n. the whole of a thing. --adv. completely. under lock and key securely locked up. Derivatives: lockable adj. lockless adj. Etymology: OE loc f. Gmc 2. n. 1 a a portion of hair that coils or hangs together. b (in pl.) the hair of the head. 2 a tuft of wool or cotton. Derivatives: -locked adj. (in comb.). Etymology: OE locc f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lock Lock, n. [AS. locc; akin to D. lok, G. locke, OHG. loc, Icel. lokkr, and perh. to Gr. ? to bend, twist.] A tuft of hair; a flock or small quantity of wool, hay, or other like substance; a tress or ringlet of hair. These gray locks, the pursuivants of death. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lock Lock, n. [AS. loc inclosure, an inclosed place, the fastening of a door, fr. l[=u]can to lock, fasten; akin to OS. l[=u]kan (in comp.), D. luiken, OHG. l[=u]hhan, Icel. l?ka, Goth. l[=u]kan (in comp.); cf. Skr. ruj to break. Cf. Locket.] 1. 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. 2. A fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable. Albemarle Street closed by a lock of carriages. --De Quincey. 3. A place from which egress is prevented, as by a lock. --Dryden. 4. The barrier or works which confine the water of a stream or canal. 5. 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. 6. That part or apparatus of a firearm by which the charge is exploded; as, a matchlock, flintlock, percussion lock, etc. 7. A device for keeping a wheel from turning. 8. A grapple in wrestling. --Milton. Detector lock, a lock containing a contrivance for showing whether it as has been tampered with. Lock bay (Canals), the body of water in a lock chamber. Lock chamber, the inclosed space between the gates of a canal lock. Lock nut. See Check nut, under Check. Lock plate, a plate to which the mechanism of a gunlock is attached. Lock rail (Arch.), in ordinary paneled doors, the rail nearest the lock. Lock rand (Masonry), a range of bond stone. --Knight. Mortise lock, a door lock inserted in a mortise. Rim lock, a lock fastened to the face of a door, thus differing from a mortise lock.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lock Lock, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Locked; p. pr. & vb. n. Locking.] 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. To link together; to clasp closely; as, to lock arms. `` Lock hand in hand.'' --Shak. 5. (Canals) To furnish with locks; also, to raise or lower (a boat) in a lock. 6. (Fencing) To seize, as the sword arm of an antagonist, by turning the left arm around it, to disarm him.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lock Lock, v. i. To become fast, as by means of a lock or by interlacing; as, the door locks close. When it locked none might through it pass. --Spenser. To lock into, to fit or slide into; as, they lock into each other. --Boyle.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(locks, locking, locked) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. When you lock something such as a door, drawer, or case, you fasten it, usually with a key, so that other people cannot open it. Are you sure you locked the front door?... Wolfgang moved along the corridor towards the locked door at the end. VERB: V n, V-ed 2. The lock on something such as a door or a drawer is the device which is used to keep it shut and prevent other people from opening it. Locks are opened with a key. At that moment he heard Gill's key turning in the lock of the door... An intruder forced open a lock on French windows at the house. N-COUNT 3. If you lock something or someone in a place, room, or container, you put them there and fasten the lock. Her maid locked the case in the safe... They beat them up and locked them in a cell. VERB: V n in/into n, V n in/into n 4. If you lock something in a particular position or if it lock there, it is held or fitted firmly in that position. He leaned back in the swivel chair and locked his fingers behind his head... There was a whine of hydraulics as the undercarriage locked into position. VERB: V n prep/adv, V prep/adv 5. On a canal or river, a lock is a place where walls have been built with gates at each end so that boats can move to a higher or lower section of the canal or river, by gradually changing the water level inside the gates. N-COUNT 6. A lock of hair is a small bunch of hairs on your head that grow together and curl or curve in the same direction. She brushed a lock of hair off his forehead. N-COUNT: usu N of n 7. lock, stock, and barrel: see barrel

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The Hebrews usually secured their doors by bars of wood or iron (Isa. 45:2; 1 Kings 4:3). These were the locks originally used, and were opened and shut by large keys applied through an opening in the outside (Judg. 3:24). (See KEY.)

Lock of hair (Judg. 16:13, 19; Ezek. 8:3; Num. 6:5, etc.).

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Fastening. 2. Grapple, hug. 3. Enclosure, lock-up. 4. Weir-guard-lock. 5. Lift-lock (of a canal). 6. Tuft, tress, ringlet. 7. Tuft, flock, plexus. 8. Handful. II. v. a. 1. Fasten (with a lock), close fast. 2. Confine (by locking), shut up, lock up. 3. Stop, clog, impede, fasten. 4. Seal, close, press together. 5. Join, unite, clasp. 6. Enclose, encircle, embrace, clasp.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A scheme, a mode. I must fight that lock; I must try that scheme.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Character. He stood a queer lock; he bore but an indifferent character. A lock is also a buyer of stolen goods, as well as the receptacle for them.

Moby Thesaurus

aboideau, accord, agree, air lock, answer to, articulate, assent, assort with, authority, bang, bar, barricade, barrier, batten, batten down, be consistent, be of one, be uniform with, bear hug, bind, block, block up, blockade, bolt, buckle, butt, button, button up, cage, catch, cessation, check, chime, chock, choke, choke off, clap, clasp, cleat, clip, close, close off, close out, close tight, close up, clutch, cohere, coincide, command, commit, concur, confine, conform, conform with, consist with, constrain, constrict, contain, contract, control, coop up, cooperate, correspond, cover, crimp, crowd, curl, dead set, dead stand, dead stop, deadlock, debar, detain, dock gate, dog, dovetail, dying down, ebb, ebbing, engage, entangle, entwine, exclude, fall in together, fasten, fit together, fix, fix on, fix upon, flood-hatch, floodgate, fold, fold up, follow, frizz, frizzle, full nelson, full stop, gate, go together, go with, grapple, grasp, half nelson, halt, hang together, harmonize, hasp, head gate, hinge, hit, hitch, hold, hold together, hook, implant, impound, imprison, incarcerate, interlock, intersect, jam, jibe, join, joint, keep out, keep track of, key, latch, lock gate, lock in, lock out, lock up, match, miter, mortise, nail, oblige, obstruct, occlude, overlap, pack, padlock, parallel, peg, penstock, pin, plant, plumb, ponytail, power, pursue, quarter nelson, rabbet, register, register with, respond to, restrain, restrict, retain, ringlet, rivet, scarf, scissors, screw, seal, seal off, seal up, secure, sew, shut, shut off, shut out, shut the door, shut tight, shut up, sing in chorus, skewer, slam, sluice, sluice gate, snap, sort with, square, square with, squeeze, squeeze shut, stabilize, stand, stand together, standstill, staple, stick, stifle, stillstand, stitch, stop, stop up, strangle, stranglehold, strangulate, subsidence, suffocate, supervision, sway, tack, tally, tide gate, toehold, toggle, track, tress, wane, waning, water gate, wedge, weir, zip up, zipper