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Webster 1913 Edition

Lock

Lock

(lŏk)
,
Noun.
[AS.
locc
; akin to D.
lok
, G.
locke
, OHG. loc, Icel.
lokkr
, and perh. to Gr. [GREEK] 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.
Shakespeare

Lock

,
Noun.
[AS.
loc
inclosure, an inclosed place, the fastening of a door, fr.
lūcan
to lock, fasten; akin to OS.
lūkan
(in comp.), D.
luiken
, OHG.
lūhhan
, Icel.
lūka
, Goth.
lūkan
(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 match
lock
, flint
lock
, 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
.

Lock

,
Verb.
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.

Lock

,
Verb.
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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Lock

LOCK

,
Noun.
[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, &c.
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.

Definition 2024

Lock

Lock

See also: lock, Löck, and -lock

English

Proper noun

Lock

  1. A surname​.

German Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German lok, from Old Saxon *lok, from Proto-Germanic *luką. More at lock.

Noun

Lock n (plural Locken)

  1. hole
  2. opening

lock

lock

See also: Lock, Löck, and -lock

English

Noun

lock ‎(plural locks)

  1. Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.
    • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
      "Give me the key," said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, she had turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 13, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.
  2. (computing, by extension) A mutex or other token restricting access to a resource.
    • 2005, Karl Kopper, The Linux Enterprise Cluster
      […] the application must first acquire a lock on a file or a portion of a file before reading data and modifying it.
  3. A segment of a canal or other waterway enclosed by gates, used for raising and lowering boats between levels.
    • 1846, William Makepeace Thackeray, Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo
      Here the canal came to a check, ending abruptly with a large lock.
  4. The firing mechanism of a gun.
  5. Complete control over a situation.
    • 2003, Charley Rosen, The Wizard of Odds
      Even though he had not yet done so, Jack felt he had a lock on the game.
  6. Something sure to be a success.
    • 2004, Avery Corman, A perfect divorce
      Brian thinks she's a lock to get a scholarship somewhere.
  7. (rugby) A player in the scrum behind the front row, usually the tallest members of the team.
    • 2011 September 24, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 67-3 Romania”, in BBC Sport:
      Ashton only had to wait three minutes for his second try, lock Louis Deacon setting it up with a rollocking line-break, before Romania got on the scoreboard courtesy of a penalty from fly-half Marin Danut Dumbrava.
  8. A fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable.
  9. A place from which egress is prevented, as by a lock.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)
  10. A device for keeping a wheel from turning.
  11. A grapple in wrestling.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

lock ‎(third-person singular simple present locks, present participle locking, simple past locked, past participle locked or (obsolete) locken)

  1. (intransitive) To become fastened in place.
    If you put the brakes on too hard, the wheels will lock.‎
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 13, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock.
  2. (transitive) To fasten with a lock.
    Remember to lock the door when you leave.‎
  3. (intransitive) To be capable of becoming fastened in place.
    This door locks with a key.‎
  4. (transitive) To intertwine or dovetail.
    with his hands locked behind his back‎
    We locked arms and stepped out into the night.‎
  5. (intransitive, break dancing) To freeze one's body or a part thereof in place.
    a pop and lock routine‎
  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 the left arm around it, to disarm him.
  9. (Internet, transitive) To officially prevent other users from posting in (a thread).
Antonyms
  • (to fasten with a lock; to be capable of becoming fasteneed in place): unlock
Derived terms
Translations
break dancing: to freeze one's body or a part thereof in place

Etymology 2

From Old English locc. Cognate with Old Norse lokkr (whence Danish lok), German Locke. It has been theorised that the word may be related to the Gothic verb 𐌻𐌿𐌺𐌰𐌽 ‎(lukan, “to shut”) in its ancient meaning to curb.

Noun

lock ‎(plural locks)

  1. A tuft or length of hair.
    • 1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights, Chapter XXI
      If I consent to burn them, will you promise faithfully neither to send nor receive a letter again, nor a book (for I perceive you have sent him books), nor locks of hair, nor rings, nor playthings?
Derived terms
Translations

Anagrams

German

Verb

lock

  1. Imperative singular of locken.
  2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of locken.

Swedish

log cabin (bottom floor) with board panel (top floor) with thinner, protruding "cover" boards (lock 4), giving the upper wall a striped appearance.

Etymology

From Old Norse lok.

Pronunciation

Noun

lock c, n

  1. a lock of hair
  2. a cover, a lid
  3. popping (as when ears pop)[1]
    Få lock för örat.
    Be deafened.
  4. a (thin) board that covers the gap between panel boards
  5. call, lure (uninflected, from the verb locka)
    med lock och pock

Declension

Inflection of lock 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative lock locken lockar lockarna
Genitive locks lockens lockars lockarnas
Inflection of lock 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative lock locket lock locken
Genitive locks lockets locks lockens

Related terms

  • grytlock
  • hårlock

Derived terms

  • Få lock för örat: be deafened. When you have bad hearing from the change in air pressure due to an air plane flight. So it’s sort of like having a casserole cover in your ear [2]

References

  1. ↑ Grief Gondola, #2 by Tomas Tranströmer, verse VI
  2. ↑

Etymology

A key lock. (a device requiring a key or a combination to be opened)
A lock (canal segment).

From Old English loc, from Proto-Germanic *luką. The verb is from Old English lūcan, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną.

Pronunciation

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