English Explanatory Dictionary

lock

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.
  2. A mutex or other token restricting access to a resource.
  3. A segment of a canal or other navigable waterway enclosed by gates, used for raising and lowering boats between levels.
  4. The firing mechanism.
  5. Complete control over a situation.
  6. Something sure to be a success.
  7. Synonym of Dutch book.
  8. A player in the scrum behind the front row, usually the tallest members of the team.
  9. A fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable.
  10. A place impossible to get out of, as by a lock.
  11. A device for keeping a wheel from turning.
  12. A grapple in wrestling.
verb
  1. To become fastened in place.
  2. To fasten with a lock.
  3. To be capable of becoming fastened in place.
  4. To intertwine or dovetail.
  5. To freeze one's body or a part thereof in place.
  6. To furnish (a canal) with locks.
  7. To raise or lower (a boat) in a lock.
  8. To seize (e.g. the sword arm of an antagonist) by turning one's left arm around it, to disarm them.
  9. To modify (a thread) so that users cannot make new posts in it.
  10. To prevent a page from being edited by other users.
  11. To play in the position of lock.
noun
  1. A tuft or length of hair, wool, etc.
  2. A small quantity of straw etc.
  3. A quantity of meal, the perquisite of a mill-servant.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Knox County and Licking County, Ohio, United States.
  3. A town in Elliston district council area, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia; from the surname.

Pronunciation

/lɒk/ lŏk /lɑk/ en-us-lock.ogg

Word forms

lock locks locking locked locken

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lewg-der. Proto-Germanic *luką Proto-West Germanic *lok Old English loc Middle English lok English lock From Middle English lok, from Old English loc, from Proto-West Germanic *lok, from Proto-Germanic *luką from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend; turn”). Cognate with Cimbrian loch, lòch (“hole”), Dutch lok (“hole”), German Loch (“hole”), German Low German Lock (“hole”), Luxembourgish Lach (“hole”), Vilamovian łöch (“hole”), Yiddish לאָך (lokh, “hole”), Danish låg (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Bokmål lokk (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Nynorsk lok, lokk (“lid, cover”). more detail The verb is from Middle English locken, lokken, louken, from Old English lūcan, Proto-West Germanic *lūkan, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną. Cognate with Dutch luiken (“to close, to shut”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål lukke (“to close, to shut”), Faroese lúka (“to end, to finish”), Icelandic ljúka (“to close, to shut”), Norwegian Nynorsk lukka (“to close, to shut”). Related to luxe via Latin.

Synonyms

Dutch book braid lace twine betwine entwist entwine interlace interthread intertwine intertwist interweave lock raddle ruddle twist

Antonyms

unlock

Related words

Locks Heath

Derived words

air lock alcolock anklelock armlock bike lock bikelock boxlock brainlock Bramah lock button lock cannon lock chinlock clasp lock cliplock combination lock couch lock couchlock deathlock differential lock diff lock D lock double lock standing seam drop-lock drop lock electric lock pick Enfield Lock eyelock facelock fermentation lock fetlock fetterlock firelock flatlock frame lock genlock gimbal lock guard lock hammerlock handlock hardlock hashlock have it on lock headlock hep-lock hip lock hock lock horse-lock hydrolock hydrostatic lock inlock interlock jail lock Janus-faced lock joint lock keycard lock keylock leg lock lidlock line lock liner lock
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