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1. Dictionary

   Lock

   /läk/

   

   noun

   • 1. a mechanism for keeping a door, lid, etc., fastened, typically operated only by a key of a particular form: "the key turned firmly in the lock"
   • ▪ a device used to prevent the operation or movement of a vehicle or other machine: "a bicycle lock"
   • ▪ a facility on a computer or mobile phone that requires a user to verify their identity with a passcode or other form of authentication in order to access the full functionality of the device: "there's a security lock on the phone and he doesn't know the code"
   • ▪ (in wrestling and martial arts) a hold that prevents an opponent from moving a limb.
   • ▪ a number of interlocked or jammed items: archaic "a street closed by a lock of carriages"
   • 2. a short confined section of a canal or other waterway in which the water level can be changed by the use of gates and sluices, used for raising and lowering vessels between two gates: "there was a lock every quarter of a mile"
   • 3. a person or thing that is certain to succeed; a certainty: informal North American "all of this makes him a lock to make the Hall of Fame"
   • 4. a mechanism for exploding the charge of a gun. historical

   verb

   • 1. fasten or secure (something) with a lock: "she closed and locked her desk" Similar boltfastenbarsecuremake securemake fastsealpadlocklatchchainOpposite unlockopen
   • ▪ (of a door, window, box, etc.) become or be able to be secured through activation of a lock: "the door will automatically lock behind you"
   • ▪ enclose or shut in by locking or fastening a door, lid, etc.: "he is treated like an unpaid servant and locked in his room"
   • 2. restrict access to the full functionality or data of (a computer, mobile phone, file, etc.), especially by requiring a user to verify their identity with a passcode or other form of authentication: "my computer is locked and I've forgotten my login info"
   • ▪ (of a mobile phone) operate only on the network of a particular carrier: "the phone is locked to T-mobile"
   • 3. make or become rigidly fixed or immovable: "he locked his hands behind her neck" Similar joininterlockmeshengagelinkuniteconnectcombineyokematecouplebecome stuckstickjambecome/make immovablebecome/make rigidOpposite separatedivide
   • 4. go through a lock on a canal: "we locked through at Moore Haven"

   Word Origin Old Englishloc, of Germanic origin; related to German Loch ‘hole’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. lockable adjective
   • 2. lockless adjective

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • L

     1

   • O

     1

   • C

     3

   • K

     5

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