Lock

/lɒk/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.
  • Grammar: lock is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: aboideau, accord, agree, air lock.
  • Useful contrasts: mutable attribute, open accesses, untapped.
  • Usage evidence: The lock on my drawer had been tampered with and some of my papers were missing.

How to use "lock"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "lock" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "lock" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "lock" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "lock" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "lock" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "aboideau" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "lock", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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. 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. 3
    any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured wordnet
  4. 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. 5
    A small quantity of straw etc.
Show 16 more definitions
  1. 6
    a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed wordnet
  2. 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."

  3. 8
    A quantity of meal, the perquisite of a mill-servant. historical
  4. 9
    a restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key wordnet
  5. 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."

  6. 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
  7. 12
    Complete control over a situation.

    "Even though he had not yet done so, Jack felt he had a lock on the game."

  8. 13
    a mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun wordnet
  9. 14
    Something sure to be a success.

    "Brian thinks she's a lock to get a scholarship somewhere."

  10. 15
    a strand or cluster of hair wordnet
  11. 16
    Synonym of Dutch book.
  12. 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."

  13. 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."

  14. 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"

  15. 20
    A device for keeping a wheel from turning.
  16. 21
    A grapple in wrestling.

    "They must be also practis'd in all the Locks and Gripes of Wrestling"

Verb
  1. 1
    To become fastened in place. intransitive

    "If you put the brakes on too hard, the wheels will lock."

  2. 2
    become rigid or immoveable wordnet
  3. 3
    To fasten with a lock. transitive

    "Remember to lock the door when you leave."

  4. 4
    place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape wordnet
  5. 5
    To be capable of becoming fastened in place. intransitive

    "This door locks with a key."

Show 15 more definitions
  1. 6
    fasten with a lock wordnet
  2. 7
    To intertwine or dovetail. transitive

    "with his hands locked behind his back"

  3. 8
    keep engaged wordnet
  4. 9
    To freeze one's body or a part thereof in place. intransitive

    "a pop and lock routine"

  5. 10
    become engaged or intermeshed with one another wordnet
  6. 11
    To furnish (a canal) with locks.
  7. 12
    hold in a locking position wordnet
  8. 13
    To raise or lower (a boat) in a lock.
  9. 14
    build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels wordnet
  10. 15
    To seize (e.g. the sword arm of an antagonist) by turning one's left arm around it, to disarm them.
  11. 16
    hold fast (in a certain state) wordnet
  12. 17
    To modify (a thread) so that users cannot make new posts in it. Internet, transitive
  13. 18
    pass by means through a lock in a waterway wordnet
  14. 19
    To prevent a page from being edited by other users. Internet, transitive

    "Frequently-vandalized pages are generally locked to prevent further damage."

  15. 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."

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

Synonyms

All synonyms
aboideauaccordagreeair lockansweranswer to

Antonyms

mutable attributeopen accessesuntappedbaldness

Example

"The lock on my drawer had been tampered with and some of my papers were missing."

Common questions

What does "lock" mean?

Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.

What is a synonym for "lock"?

Common synonyms include: aboideau, accord, agree, air lock, answer, answer to.

How do you use "lock" in a sentence?

The lock on my drawer had been tampered with and some of my papers were missing.

How do you pronounce "lock"?

Pronounced /lɒk/.

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

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 3

* 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.

More for "lock"

Synonyms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsBrowse writing guidesExplore topic clusters