lock

Formslocks, locking, locked

Plurallocks

1. 1
   shut with keyverbtransitive

   To secure something by means of a lock.

   Remember to lock the car when you park downtown.

   The guard locks the gates every night at ten.

   UsageOften with up, away or in: lock up the house, lock valuables away. Locked out means unable to get in.

   Similarsecure, bolt, fasten, padlock, latch

   Oppositeunlock, open, unbolt

2. 2
   key devicenouncountable

   A fastening device that can be opened only with a key or combination.

   The old chest had a rusty lock that no one could open.

   Modern locks often use electronic keypads instead of metal keys.

   UsageYou turn the key in the lock. Something kept safe is under lock and key.

   Similarfastening, latch, bolt

3. 3
   jam in placeverbintransitive

   To become fastened or held firmly in place.

   The car doors lock automatically once the engine starts.

   Her knees locked after she stood still for hours.

   UsageThe thing itself is the subject, with no object: the doors lock automatically. Often lock into place.

   Similarfasten, seize, jam, stiffen

   Oppositeunlock, release, loosen

   Note

   Here nothing does the locking: wheels lock when the brakes go on too hard, and a catch locks into place. The subject is the thing that stops moving, not a person with a key. That sets it apart from its transitive partner, where someone locks a door.

4. 4
   join tightlyverbtransitive

   To fit or join parts together so they interlock and hold firmly in place.

   Like the teeth of a zipper meshing so the two halves grip each other.

   The dancers locked their arms and spun together across the floor.

   Carpenters lock the boards at their edges so the joint cannot pull apart.

   UsageCommon with body parts: lock arms, lock fingers, hands locked behind your back.

   Similarlink, join, entwine, clasp, mesh

   Oppositeseparate, release, detach

   Note

   The image is the dovetail, two things fitted through each other so that each holds the other. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • A dovetail joins parts so that their interlocking shapes hold them together. en.wikipedia.org
5. 5
   canal sectionnouncountable

   A gated section of a canal or waterway used to raise and lower boats between different levels.

   The narrowboat entered the lock as the gates slowly closed.

   Canal locks let vessels climb steep changes in elevation.

   Note

   Canal building gave this noun two verbs of its own: fitting a canal with locks and passing a boat through one, where a boat is locked up or down. The noun itself is plain and old. Thackeray, in 1846, describes a canal that "came to a check, ending abruptly with a large lock." Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • 'Lock' has canal-related verbal senses meaning to furnish a canal with locks and to raise or lower a boat in one. en.wiktionary.org
   • The noun is old. en.wiktionary.org
   • The Thackeray work containing the quotation was first published in 1846. upload.wikimedia.org
   • Thackeray describes a canal using the exact quoted wording. gutenberg.org
6. 6
   stuck statenouncountable

   A fastening or interlacing of one thing upon another, or a state of being fixed and immovable.

   Once the clamp tightened, the two pipes were held in a firm lock that would not budge.

   The two pieces met in a firm lock once pressed together.

   Similarhold, grip, clinch

   Note

   The broad sense of things caught fast together once covered traffic. De Quincey, recalling Coleridge's lectures, describes Albemarle Street "closed by a 'lock' of carriages." He sets the word in inverted commas, and he means a jam in which no vehicle could move until the footmen brought word. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • The historical sense of 'lock' included a blockage of traffic. gutenberg.org
   • De Quincey used the quoted wording while recalling Coleridge's lectures. gutenberg.org
   • The word 'lock' appears in inverted commas. gutenberg.org
7. 7
   tuft of hairnouncountable

   A tuft, curl, or small bunch of hair, wool, hay, or similar fibers.

   A stray lock of hair kept falling into his eyes.

   The shearer set aside a lock of fine wool for spinning.

   UsageUsually a lock of hair or wool. In the plural, locks can mean a whole head of hair, in literary style.

   Similartuft, curl, strand, tress, wisp

   Note

   In the plural it can mean a whole head of hair, as in Shakespeare's "her sunny locks" in The Merchant of Venice. In Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, "locks of hair" are listed with letters and rings among a young couple's keepsakes. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • “Her sunny locks” occurs in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, spoken by Bassanio about Portia. folger.edu
   • Emily Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights. en.wikipedia.org
8. 8
   sure thingnouncountable

   Something certain to succeed or happen, or a firm hold that makes an outcome certain, as in 'a lock on the vote'.

   Analysts called the merger a lock weeks before it closed.

   She's considered a lock for the promotion.

   UsageOften a lock for a prize or a lock to win. Have a lock on something means firm control of it.

   Similarcertainty, cinch, shoo-in

9. 9
   wrestling holdnouncountable

   A grappling hold in wrestling that immobilizes an opponent or part of their body.

   The wrestler clamped a lock on his opponent's arm until the referee stopped the bout.

   A well-timed lock can pin even a much stronger competitor.

   UsageOften in compounds like headlock or armlock, or with in or on: put him in a lock, a lock on his arm.

   Similarhold, grip, clinch

   Note

   The wrestler's hold is old enough for Milton, in Of Education (1644), to want students practiced in "all the Locks and Gripes of Wrestling." Its sword-fighting cousin is the disarming arm seize. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • John Milton's Of Education was first published in 1644. content.www.wellcomecollection.org
   • Milton recommends that students practise wrestling locks and gripes, using the quoted wording. oll-resources.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com
   • Lock also has a sword-fighting sense involving seizing an opponent's sword arm to disarm them. en.wiktionary.org
10. 10
    close threadverbtransitive

    To set an online thread or page so that users can no longer post to it or edit it.

    Admins lock threads that violate the community rules.

    She locked the post once the question had been answered.

    UsageOften passive: the thread was locked.

    Similarclose, freeze

    Oppositeunlock, reopen

    Note

    Forum vocabulary: a locked thread accepts no new posts, so the conversation is closed to replies. The same verb covers a wiki page locked against editing, where the restriction falls on editing a shared text rather than on adding to a discussion. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Locking a discussion thread prevents further replies from ordinary users. meta.discourse.org
    • A wiki page can be protected against editing. mediawiki.org
11. 11
    rugby positionnouncountable

    In rugby, a player positioned in the scrum behind the front row, usually one of the tallest on the team.

    The lock soared above the pack to claim the lineout throw.

    At nearly two meters tall, she was the obvious choice at lock.

    Note

    A rugby forward's position in the second row, filled by the tall players who jump at the lineout and push behind the front row in the scrum. Commentators use it as a title before a name, the way they would use fly-half. A BBC match report credits "lock Louis Deacon" with setting up a try. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Locks are forwards in the second row, behind the scrum's front row. rugbyworldcup.com
    • Locks are tall players who contest lineout ball. passport.world.rugby
    • Locks push behind the front row in the scrum. rugbyworldcup.com
    • A BBC match report uses the exact phrase "lock Louis Deacon" and credits him with setting up a try. bbc.co.uk

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