[lok] Pronunciation Key | 1. | a device for securing a door, gate, lid, drawer, or the like in position when closed, consisting of a bolt or system of bolts propelled and withdrawn by a mechanism operated by a key, dial, etc. |
| 2. | a contrivance for fastening or securing something. |
| 3. | (in a firearm)
|
| 4. | any device or part for stopping temporarily the motion of a mechanism. |
| 5. | an enclosed chamber in a canal, dam, etc., with gates at each end, for raising or lowering vessels from one level to another by admitting or releasing water. |
| 6. | an air lock or decompression chamber. |
| 7. | complete and unchallenged control; an unbreakable hold: The congresswoman has a lock on the senatorial nomination. |
| 8. | Slang. someone or something certain of success; sure thing: He's a lock to win the championship. |
| 9. | Wrestling. any of various holds, esp. a hold secured on the arm, leg, or head: leg lock. |
| 10. | Horology. (in an escapement) the overlap between a tooth of an escape wheel and the surface of the pallet locking it. |
| 11. | Metalworking. a projection or recession in the mating face of a forging die. |
| 12. | to fasten or secure (a door, window, building, etc.) by the operation of a lock or locks. |
| 13. | to shut in a place fastened by a lock or locks, as for security or restraint. |
| 14. | to make fast or immovable by or as if by a lock: He locked the steering wheel on his car. |
| 15. | to make fast or immovable, as by engaging parts: to lock the wheels of a wagon. |
| 16. | to join or unite firmly by interlinking or intertwining: to lock arms. |
| 17. | to hold fast in an embrace: She was locked in his arms. |
| 18. | to move (a ship) by means of a lock or locks, as in a canal (often fol. by through, in, out, down, or up). |
| 19. | to furnish with locks, as a canal. |
| 20. | to become locked: This door locks with a key. |
| 21. | to become fastened, fixed, or interlocked: gears that lock into place. |
| 22. | to go or pass by means of a lock or locks, as a vessel. |
| 23. | to construct locks in waterways. |
| 24. | lock in,
|
| 25. | lock off, to enclose (a waterway) with a lock. |
| 26. | lock on, to track or follow a target or object automatically by radar or other electronic means. |
| 27. | lock out,
|
| 28. | lock up,
|
| 29. | lock horns, to come into conflict; clash: to lock horns with a political opponent. |
| 30. | lock, stock, and barrel, completely; entirely; including every part, item, or facet, no matter how small or insignificant: We bought the whole business, lock, stock, and barrel. |
| 31. | under lock and key, securely locked up: The documents were under lock and key. |
] —Related forms
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
[lok] Pronunciation Key | 1. | a tress, curl, or ringlet of hair. |
| 2. | locks,
|
| 3. | a small tuft or portion of wool, cotton, flax, etc. |
] Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
lock 1
(lŏk) Pronunciation Key
(click for larger image in new window) n.
v. locked, lock·ing, locks v. tr.
v. intr.
Phrasal Verb(s): lock out To withhold work from (employees) during a labor dispute. Idiom(s): lock horns To become embroiled in conflict. Idiom(s): lock, stock, and barrel To the greatest or most complete extent; wholly: an estate that was auctioned off lock, stock, and barrel. Idiom(s): under lock and key Securely locked up. [Middle English, from Old English loc, bolt, bar.] lock'a·ble adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
| lock 2
(lŏk) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English, from Old English locc.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
lock (1)
lock (2)
| lock | |
noun | |
| 1. | a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed |
| 2. | a strand or cluster of hair |
| 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 |
| 5. | a restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key |
| 6. | any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured |
verb | |
| 1. | fasten with a lock; "lock the bike to the fence" [ant: unlock] |
| 2. | keep engaged; "engaged the gears" [syn: engage] [ant: disengage] |
| 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" |
| 5. | become engaged or intermeshed with one another; "They were locked in embrace" [syn: interlock] |
| 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] |
| 8. | pass by means through a lock in a waterway |
| 9. | build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels |
lock
In addition to the idioms beginning with lock, also see under lock and key.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Lock Haven, PA (city, FIPS 44128) Location: 41.13594 N, 77.45322 W
Population (1990): 9230 (3302 housing units)
Area: 6.5 sq km (land), 0.1 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 17745
Lock Springs, MO (town, FIPS 43472) Location: 39.84909 N, 93.77587 W
Population (1990): 57 (31 housing units)
Area: 0.3 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Zip code(s): 64654
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.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.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.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.Lock
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.).
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