- (n.) Anything that fastens; specifically, a fastening, as for a door, a lid, a trunk, a drawer, and the like, in which a bolt is moved by a key so as to hold or to release the thing fastened.
- (n.) A device for keeping a wheel from turning.
- (v.t.) To prevent ingress or access to or exit from, by fastening the lock or locks of; -- often with up; as, to lock or lock up, a house, jail, room, trunk. etc.
- (v.i.) To become fast, as by means of a lock or by interlacing; as, the door locks close.
- (n.) The barrier or works which confine the water of a stream or canal.
- (n.) A tuft of hair; a flock or small quantity of wool, hay or other like substance; a tress or ringlet of hair.
- (v.t.) To furnish with locks; also, to raise or lower (a boat) in a lock.
- (v.t.) To link together; to clasp closely; as, to lock arms.
- (v.t.) To seize, as the sword arm of an antagonist, by turning the left arm around it, to disarm him.
- (n.) An inclosure in a canal with gates at each end, used in raising or lowering boats as they pass from one level to another; -- called also lift lock.
- (n.) That part or apparatus of a firearm by which the charge is exploded; as, a matchlock, flintlock, percussion lock, etc.
- (v.t.) To fasten in or out or to make secure by means of or as with, locks; to confine or to shut in or out -- often with up; as, to lock one's self in a room; to lock up the prisoners; to lock up one's silver; to lock intruders out of the house; to lock money into a vault; to lock a child in one's arms; to lock a secret in one's breast.
- (n.) A grapple in wrestling.
- (v.t.) To fasten with a lock or as with a lock; to make fast; to prevent free movement of; as, to lock a door, a carriage wheel, a river, etc.
- (n.) A place from which egress is prevented, as by a lock.
- (n.) A fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). lock. Retrieved September 23, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/lock/definitions/2028568 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "lock" http://smartdefine.org/lock/definitions/2028568 (accessed September 23, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, lock, Smart Define, viewed 23 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/lock/definitions/2028568>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "lock" 27 May 2011. Web. 23 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/lock/definitions/2028568> |