LOCK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lock mean? 

• LOCK (noun)
  The noun LOCK has 6 senses:

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

  Familiarity information: LOCK used as a noun is common.

• LOCK (verb)
  The verb LOCK has 9 senses:

1. fasten with a lock

2. keep engaged

3. become rigid or immoveable

4. hold in a locking position

5. become engaged or intermeshed with one another

6. hold fast (in a certain state)

7. place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape

8. pass by means through a lock in a waterway

9. build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels

  Familiarity information: LOCK used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOCK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lock" is a kind of...):

fastener; fastening; fixing; holdfast (restraint that attaches to something or holds something in place)

Meronyms (parts of "lock"):

bolt; deadbolt (the part of a lock that is engaged or withdrawn with a key)

tumbler (a movable obstruction in a lock that must be adjusted to a given position (as by a key) before the bolt can be thrown)

keyhole (the hole where a key is inserted)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lock"):

sash fastener; sash lock; window lock (a lock attached to the sashes of a double hung window that can fix both in the shut position)

padlock (a detachable lock; has a hinged shackle that can be passed through the staple of a hasp or the links in a chain and then snapped shut)

lever lock (a lock whose tumblers are levers that must be raised to a given position so that the bolt can move)

door latch; latch (spring-loaded doorlock that can only be opened from the outside with a key)

doorlock (a lock on an exterior door)

cylinder lock (a lock in which a cylinder rotates to move a bolt; tumblers are pins; inserting the key lifts and aligns the pins to free the cylinder to rotate)

combination lock (lock that can be opened only by turning dials in a special sequence)

Holonyms ("lock" is a part of...):

gate (a movable barrier in a fence or wall)

door (a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle)

lid (a movable top or cover (hinged or separate) for closing the opening at the top of a box, chest, jar, pan, etc.)

drawer (a boxlike container in a piece of furniture; made so as to slide in and out)

Derivation:

lock (fasten with a lock)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A strand or cluster of hair

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

curl; lock; ringlet; whorl

Hypernyms ("lock" is a kind of...):

hair (a covering for the body (or parts of it) consisting of a dense growth of threadlike structures (as on the human head); helps to prevent heat loss)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lock"):

sausage curl (a fat sausage-shaped curl)

forelock (a lock of hair growing (or falling) over the forehead)

crimp (a lock of hair that has been artificially waved or curled)

dreadlock (one of many long thin braids of hair radiating from the scalp; popularized by Rastafarians)

Holonyms ("lock" is a part of...):

coif; coiffure; hair style; hairdo; hairstyle (the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("lock" is a kind of...):

mechanism (device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts that perform some function)

Holonyms ("lock" is a part of...):

firearm; piece; small-arm (a portable gun)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

lock; lock chamber

Hypernyms ("lock" is a kind of...):

enclosure (a structure consisting of an area that has been enclosed for some purpose)

Holonyms ("lock" is a part of...):

canal (long and narrow strip of water made for boats or for irrigation)

Derivation:

lock (build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels)

lock (pass by means through a lock in a waterway)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

ignition lock; lock

Hypernyms ("lock" is a kind of...):

constraint; restraint (a device that retards something's motion)

Holonyms ("lock" is a part of...):

ignition switch (switch that operates a solenoid that closes a circuit to operate the starter)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("lock" is a kind of...):

wrestling hold (a hold used in the sport of wrestling)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lock"):

headlock (a wrestling hold in which the opponent's head is locked between the crook of your elbow and the side of your body)

hammerlock (a wrestling hold in which the opponent's arm is twisted up behind his back)

Derivation:

lock (hold in a locking position)

lock (become engaged or intermeshed with one another)

• LOCK (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fasten with a lock

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

lock the bike to the fence

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lock"):

padlock (fasten with a padlock)

bolt (secure or lock with a bolt)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Antonym:

unlock (open the lock of)

unlock (become unlocked)

Also:

lock up (place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape)

lock up (secure by locking)

Derivation:

locker (a fastener that locks or closes)

lock (a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Keep engaged

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

engage; lock; mesh; operate

Context example:

engaged the gears

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "lock"):

flip; switch; throw (cause to go on or to be engaged or set in operation)

ride (keep partially engaged by slightly depressing a pedal with the foot)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become rigid or immoveable

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The therapist noticed that the patient's knees tended to lock in this exercise

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

engage (get caught)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Antonym:

unlock (become unlocked)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Hold in a locking position

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

interlace; interlock; lock

Context example:

He locked his hands around her neck

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

hold; take hold (have or hold in one's hands or grip)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

lock (any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Become engaged or intermeshed with one another

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

interlock; lock

Context example:

They were locked in embrace

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

bosom; embrace; hug; squeeze (hold (someone) tightly in your arms, usually with fondness)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

lock (any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Hold fast (in a certain state)

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

He was locked in a laughing fit

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

overcome; overpower; overtake; overwhelm; sweep over; whelm (overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

lock; lock away; lock in; lock up; put away; shut away; shut up

Context example:

She locked her jewels in the safe

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

confine (prevent from leaving or from being removed)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 8

Meaning:

Pass by means through a lock in a waterway

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

pass (go across or through)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

lock (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)

lockage (passage through a lock in a canal or waterway)

lockage (a system of locks in a canal or waterway)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "lock" is one way to...):

build; construct; make (make by combining materials and parts)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

lock (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)

lockage (a system of locks in a canal or waterway)

 Context examples 

It had been locked after I left the Count.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Doors that used to be locked shut are swinging open to you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

She closed the door, locked it, and put the key carefully in the pocket of her dress.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

I desired a lock for my door, to prevent rats and mice from coming in.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

They pretend that Sophy has a lock of it in her desk, and is obliged to shut it in a clasped book, to keep it down.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Martian water ice is locked away underground throughout the planet's mid-latitudes.

(NASA's Treasure Map for Water Ice on Mars, NASA)

The place was locked, but Holmes removed a circle of glass and turned the key from the inside.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Much like the Earth and the Moon, KELT-9b is tidally locked to its star; with one side of the planet always exposed to its star.

(Astronomers reveal discovery of the hottest gas giant exoplanet known yet, Wikinews)

The strength of the material at its locked state allowed the gripper to lift objects up to 1,000 times its own weight.

(Tiny magnetic particles enable new material to bend, twist and grab, National Science Foundation)

The models review two possible orbits: one tidally locked and one modeled after Mercury's, with a slow-rotating three days per year.

(Simulations show planet orbiting Proxima Centauri could have liquid water, Wikinews)