- lock
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I. noun
Etymology: Middle English lok, from Old English locc; akin to Old High German loc lock, Greek lygos withe, Latin luxus dislocated
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. a tuft, tress, or ringlet of hair
b. plural the hair of the head
2. a cohering bunch (as of wool, cotton, or flax) ; tuft
3. plural dreadlock 2
II. noun
Etymology: Middle English lok, from Old English loc; akin to Old High German loh enclosure and perhaps to Old English locc lock of hair
Date: before 12th century
1.
a. a fastening (as for a door) operated by a key or a combination
b. the mechanism for exploding the charge or cartridge of a firearm
2.
a. an enclosure (as in a canal) with gates at each end used in raising or lowering boats as they pass from level to level
b. air lock
3.
a. a locking or fastening together
b. an intricate mass of objects impeding each other (as in a traffic jam)
c. a hold in wrestling secured on one part of the body; broadly a controlling hold <his paper…had a lock on a large part of the state — John Corry> 4. one that is assured of success or favorable outcome III. verb Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to fasten the lock of b. to make fast with or as if with a lock <lock up the house> 2. a. to fasten in or out or to make secure or inaccessible by or as if by means of locks <locked himself away from the curious world> <locked her husband out> b. to fix in a particular situation or method of operation <a team firmly locked in last place> 3. a. to make fast, motionless, or inflexible especially by the interlacing or interlocking of parts <lock wheels> <lock a knee> b. to hold in a close embrace c. to grapple in combat; also to bind closely <administration and students were locked in conflict> 4. to invest (capital) without assurance of easy convertibility into money 5. to move or permit to pass (as a ship) by raising or lowering in a lock intransitive verb 1. a. to become locked b. to be capable of being locked 2. interlace, interlock 3. to go or pass by means of a lock (as in a canal) • lockable adjective
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
