air lock

noun
1.
Civil Engineering. an airtight chamber permitting passage to or from a space, as in a caisson, in which the air is kept under pressure.
2.
the impedance in the functioning of a pump or a system of piping caused by the presence of an air bubble; vapor lock.

Origin:
1855–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged

air-lock

[air-lok]
verb (used with object)
to place in or confine to an air lock: to air-lock divers before they descend.

Origin:
1855–60

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Air lock is always a great word to know.
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a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

air lock

device that permits passage between regions of differing air pressures, most often used for passage between atmospheric pressure and chambers in which the air is compressed, such as pneumatic caissons and underwater tunnels. The air lock also has been used as a design feature of space vehicles; on March 18, 1965, the Soviet cosmonaut Aleksey Leonov passed through an air lock to become the first man to walk in space

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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