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 money
5 : to move or permit to pass (as a ship) by raising or lowering in a lockintransitive 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)

— 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)