- lock
- [[t]lɒ̱k[/t]]
♦♦♦locks, locking, locked1) VERB When you lock something such as a door, drawer, or case, you fasten it, usually with a key, so that other people cannot open it.
[V n] Are you sure you locked the front door?...
[V-ed] Wolfgang moved along the corridor towards the locked door at the end.
2) N-COUNT The lock on something such as a door or a drawer is the device which is used to keep it shut and prevent other people from opening it. Locks are opened with a key.At that moment he heard Gill's key turning in the lock of the door...
An intruder forced open a lock on french windows at the house.
3) VERB If you lock something or someone in a place, room, or container, you put them there and fasten the lock.[V n in/into n] Her maid locked the case in the safe...
[V n in/into n] They beat them up and locked them in a cell.
4) V-ERG When you lock something in a particular position, it is held or fitted firmly in that position.[V n prep/adv] He leaned back in the swivel chair and locked his fingers behind his head...
[V prep/adv] There was a whine of hydraulics as the undercarriage locked into position.
5) N-COUNT On a canal or river, a lock is a place where walls have been built with gates at each end so that boats can move to a higher or lower section of the canal or river, by gradually changing the water level inside the gates.6) N-COUNT: usu N of n A lock of hair is a small bunch of hairs on your head that grow together and curl or curve in the same direction.She brushed a lock of hair off his forehead.
7) N-PLURAL: usu supp N Your locks are your hair. [LITERARY]...women with long, wavy locks.
8) PHRASE: PHR after v If something or someone is kept under lock and key, they are in a container or room which has been securely locked.The books were normally kept under lock and key in the library vault...
He is currently under lock and key at Eastmoor secure unit in Leeds.
Phrasal Verbs:- lock in- lock out- lock up
English dictionary. 2008.
