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Lock

//lɒk// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun

1
A surname.
2
An unincorporated community in Knox County and Licking County, Ohio, United States.
3
A town in Elliston district council area, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia; from the surname.

Noun

1
Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.
""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."
2
A tuft or length of hair, wool, etc.
"Baſſ. […]Nor is the wide world ignorant of her worth, For the foure windes blow in from euery coaſt Renowned ſutors, and her ſunny locks Hang on her temples like a golden fleece, Which makes her ſeat of Belmont Cholchos-'| ſtrond, And many Iaſons come in queſt of her."
3
any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured wordnet
4
A mutex or other token restricting access to a resource. broadly
"[T]he application must first acquire a lock on a file or a portion of a file before reading data and modifying it."
5
A small quantity of straw etc.

Show 16 more definitions

6
a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed wordnet
7
A segment of a canal or other navigable waterway enclosed by gates, used for raising and lowering boats between levels.
"Here the canal came to a check, ending abruptly with a large lock."
8
A quantity of meal, the perquisite of a mill-servant. historical
9
a restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key wordnet
10
The firing mechanism.
""I never saw such a gun in my life," replied poor Winkle, looking at the lock, as if that would do any good."
11
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 wordnet
12
Complete control over a situation.
"Even though he had not yet done so, Jack felt he had a lock on the game."
13
a mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun wordnet
14
Something sure to be a success.
"Brian thinks she's a lock to get a scholarship somewhere."
15
a strand or cluster of hair wordnet
16
Synonym of Dutch book.
17
A player in the scrum behind the front row, usually the tallest members of the team.
"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."
18
A fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable.
"[O]n may of his lecture days I have seen all Albemarle Street closed by a "lock" of carriages, filled with women of distinction, until the servants of the Institution or their own footmen advanced to the carriage-doors with the intelligence that Mr. Coleridge had been suddenly taken ill."
19
A place impossible to get out of, as by a lock.
"Sergestus, eager with his beak to press / Betwixt the rival galley and the rock, / Shuts up the unwieldy Centaur in the lock"
20
A device for keeping a wheel from turning.
21
A grapple in wrestling.
"They must be also practis'd in all the Locks and Gripes of Wrestling"

Verb

1
To become fastened in place. intransitive
"If you put the brakes on too hard, the wheels will lock."
2
become rigid or immoveable wordnet
3
To fasten with a lock. transitive
"Remember to lock the door when you leave."
4
place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape wordnet
5
To be capable of becoming fastened in place. intransitive
"This door locks with a key."

Show 15 more definitions

6
fasten with a lock wordnet
7
To intertwine or dovetail. transitive
"with his hands locked behind his back"
8
keep engaged wordnet
9
To freeze one's body or a part thereof in place. intransitive
"a pop and lock routine"
10
become engaged or intermeshed with one another wordnet
11
To furnish (a canal) with locks.
12
hold in a locking position wordnet
13
To raise or lower (a boat) in a lock.
14
build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels wordnet
15
To seize (e.g. the sword arm of an antagonist) by turning one's left arm around it, to disarm them.
16
hold fast (in a certain state) wordnet
17
To modify (a thread) so that users cannot make new posts in it. Internet, transitive
18
pass by means through a lock in a waterway wordnet
19
To prevent a page from being edited by other users. Internet, transitive
"Frequently-vandalized pages are generally locked to prevent further damage."
20
To play in the position of lock. intransitive
"Please don't disappoint me - you are female, aren't you? I have a lingering suspicion that you are 17 stone and lock for Tarankai."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English lok, from Old English loc, from Proto-West Germanic *lok, from Proto-Germanic *luką from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend; turn”). Cognate with Cimbrian loch, lòch (“hole”), Dutch lok (“hole”), German Loch (“hole”), German Low German Lock (“hole”), Luxembourgish Lach (“hole”), Vilamovian łöch (“hole”), Yiddish לאָך (lokh, “hole”), Danish låg (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Bokmål lokk (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Nynorsk lok, lokk (“lid, cover”). more detail The verb is from Middle English locken, lokken, louken, from Old English lūcan, Proto-West Germanic *lūkan, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną. Cognate with Dutch luiken (“to close, to shut”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål lukke (“to close, to shut”), Faroese lúka (“to end, to finish”), Icelandic ljúka (“to close, to shut”), Norwegian Nynorsk lukka (“to close, to shut”). Related to luxe via Latin.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

From Middle English lok, lokke, from Old English locc (“hair of the head, hair, lock of hair, curl, ringlet”), from Proto-West Germanic *lokk, from Proto-Germanic *lukkaz, from Proto-Indo-European *lugnó-, from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend”). Cognate with Alemannic German lokha (“hair”), Dutch lok (“lock of hair, curl”), German Locke (“lock of hair, curl”), Danish lok (“lock of hair, curl”), Faroese, Icelandic lokkur (“lock of hair, curl”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk lokk (“lock of hair, curl”), Swedish lock (“lock of hair, curl”). It has been theorised that the word may be related to the Gothic verb *𐌻𐌿𐌺𐌰𐌽 (*lukan, “to shut”) in its ancient meaning "to curb".

Etymology 4

* As an English, German and Dutch surname, from the noun lock. * Also as an English surname, from Middle English loke, itself from Old English loca (“enclosure”) or *Loca (“Loki”) (theonym of the latter). * Also as an English surname, from Middle English locke, from Old English locc (“lock of hair”). * Also as a German surname, Americanized from Loch. * As a Chinese surname, variant of Lok, itself from: ** a Cantonese form of 樂 /乐, see Le. ** a Cantonese form of 陸 /陆, 鹿 (lù), 逯 (lù), and 禄 (lù), see Lu. ** a Cantonese form of 駱 /骆 (luò), see Luo.

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