Main Entry:

³lock

Function:

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> 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 money5: to move or permit to pass (as a ship) by raising or lowering in a lockintransitive verb1 a: to become locked b: to be capable of being locked2: interlace, interlock3: to go or pass by means of a lock (as in a canal)

— lock·able \ˈlä-kə-bəl\ adjective

— lock horns

: to come into conflict

— lock on or lock onto

: to acquire (as a target or signal) automatically using a sensor (as radar)