lock on

verb

variants or lock onto

locked on or locked onto; locking on or locking onto; locks on or locks onto

transitive verb

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

Examples of lock on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What that means is that drone hunter just locked on to the offending drone. — Norah O'Donnell, CBS News, 11 Oct. 2026

The kidnapper’s long shadow fell across North Georgia, over Tennessee, all the way to Kentucky, where Joyce Smith’s parents put new locks on their doors. — Thomas Lake, AJC.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Texas is where Republicans have maintained an almost three-decade lock on political power; the last Democrat to win statewide did so in 1994. — Philip Elliott, Time, 30 Sep. 2026

Hackett left his postgame news conference and walked back to the locker room with his shoulders slumped and hands stuffed in his pockets, eyes locked on the ground in front of him. — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 25 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lock on

• anton
• argon
• axon
• baronne
• baryon
• baton
• boron
• buisson
• bygone
• capon
• cardon
• chiffon