lock-in

Meanings

1. A sleepover party, usually held in a public place such as a church or school, in which the participants are not allowed to leave until the next morning.
2. An illegal but widely-tolerated invitation-only gathering in a British pub, after the end of licensing hours, to allow regular customers the opportunity to enjoy further drinking time.
3. A situation in which members of an industry have agreed to adopt a certain standard and have retooled their production to meet this standard, thus making it very costly to change to a different standard.
4. The situation where an investor cannot trade without incurring an undesirable penalty such as taxation.

Etymology

Deverbal from lock in.