| 释义 |
▪ I. lock, n.1|lɒk|
Forms: 1 loc, locc, 3–7 locke, 4–5 loke, 4–6 lokk(e, 5, 7 lok, look(e, (8–9 dial. in sense 2 luck, Sc. loake), 5– lock.
[OE. loc masc. = OS.? loc (MS. loci, glossing cesariem; MDu. locke, Du. lok fem.), OHG. loc masc. (MHG. loc masc., pl. locke, mod.G. locke fem.), ON. lokk-r masc. (Sw. lock, Da. lok):—OTeut. *lokko-z, *lukko-z:—pre-Teut. *lugno-s. Cognate words in Teut. are ON. lykkja loop, bend (Norw. lykke, Da. løkke), mod.Icel. (h)lykkur a bend.
The pre-Teut. root *lū̆g- (:leug- :loug-) prob. meant ‘to bend’ (cf. Gr. λύγος withy, whence λυγοῦν, λυγίζειν to bend; also Lith. palugnas compliant); it is formally coincident, or perh. really identical, with the root of lock n.2, louk v.]
1. One of the portions into which a head of hair, a beard, etc., naturally divides itself; a tress. In pl. often = the hair of the head collectively. † fickle under her lock: ? having guile in her head.
a700Epinal Gloss. 28 Antiæ, loccas. c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xviii. 138 Eft hie ne sceoldon hiera loccas lætan weaxan. 971Blickl. Hom. 243 Ne an loc of eowrum heafde forwyrð. c1205Lay. 18449 [Heo] sluȝen ȝeond þan feldes falewe lockes. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 330/237 His lockes weren ful hore. 13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2207 But sche was fikel, vnder hir lok, And hadde a parti of Eue smok. c1374Chaucer To Scriv. 3 Vnder þy long lokkes þowe most haue þe scalle. c1400Destr. Troy 459 His lookes full louely lemond as gold. c1430Chev. Assigne 254 And þenne she lepte to hym & kawȝte hym by þe lokke. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 257 Those blessed lockes of heare..whiche in lyfe moost semely did become that gracyous heed. 1612Capt. Smith Map Virginia 37 The lockes of haire with their skinnes be hanged on a line vnto two trees. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 361 With these..the Spirits Elect Bind thir resplendent locks. 1712Pope (title) The Rape of the Lock. 1740Lady Pomfret Lett. (1805) II. 81 They wear..their heads dressed in locks with jewels. 1794Burns Song, Lassie wi' the lint-white locks. 1839J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. iii. (1847) 30 The hair of his head hanging down in long locks covered his back and shoulders. 1859W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1875) 26 She sometimes begged for a lock of his hair.
†b. A lovelock; also, a tress of artificial hair.
1600Jacke Drums Entert. (Pasq. & Kath.) i. (1601) B 4 b, And when his period comes not roundly off, [he] takes tole of the tenth haire of his Bourbon locke. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iii. ii. 1209 He whose thin sire dwells in a smokye roufe, Must take Tobacco and must weare a locke. 1603in Brand Hist. Newcastle (1789) II. 232 [Apprentices shall not] weare their haire longe nor locks at their ears like ruffians. 1666Pepys Diary 29 Oct., My wife (who is mighty fine and with a new fair pair of locks). 1676Shadwell Virtuoso iii. Wks. 1720 I. 368, I have..all manner of Tires for the head, Locks, Tours, Frouzes, and so forth. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 389/1 Women usually wear such Borders [of Hair], which they call Curls or Locks when they hang over their ears.
c. transf. and fig. (esp. of the foliage of trees).
1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 56 b, Penroyall..It hath lockes verie like Isope. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov. 125 The faded lockes fall from the loftie oke. 1667Milton P.L. x. 1066 While the Winds Blow moist and keen, shattering the graceful locks Of those fair spreading Trees. 1819Shelley Ode to West Wind ii. 9 The locks of the approaching storm. 1850Mrs. Browning Prometh. Bound Poems I. 188 Let the locks of the lightning Flash coiling me round! 1851C. L. Smith tr. Tasso iii. lxxvi, The grand oaks Which had a thousand times their locks renewed.
2. Of wool, cotton, etc.: A tuft or flock; a loose fragment, a shred, esp. one ‘twisted on the finger of a spinner at the distaff’ (Halliwell).
In pl. used by wool-dealers for: The lowest class of remnants after the removal of the fleece, consisting of the shortest wool, coming from the legs and belly of the sheep.
c1300Battle Abbey Custumals (Camden) 56 Et habere lockes de ventre ovium. 1425in Kennett Par. Antiq. (1818) II. 251 De lana fracta, videlicet lokys, collecta in tonsura ovium. 1463–4Rolls of Parlt. V. 503/2 By puttyng in Flecez, lokkes of Wolle, and peces of moche worse Wolle. 1483Act 1 Rich. III, c. 8 Preamb., Great quantitie of Wolls..hath ben sorted..and thereof is made moche Lokkys and Refuse. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §146 At the leaste waye, she may haue the lockes of the shepe, eyther to make clothes or blankettes. 1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 477 What a noyse is here, and not so much as a locke of wolle. c1640J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) I. 156 Money..yearly made by sale of locks, belts, and tags of Sheep. a1656Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 81 A lock of wooll falls without noise. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 476 Their Distaffs full With carded Locks of blue Milesian Wooll. 1710Addison Tatler No. 229 ⁋3 He goes into the next Pool with a little Lock of Wool in his Mouth. 1801Bloomfield Rural T. (1802) 3 She..laid aside her Lucks and Twitches. 1844G. Dodd Textile Manuf. i. 25 The clotted locks of cotton..are caught by the various iron pins, and torn open fibre by fibre. Ibid. iii. 97 The locks of wool are dissected, and the fibres loosened one from another. 1849Noad Electricity (ed. 3) 444 He took a lock of cotton two inches long. 1851S. Judd Margaret i. ii. (1871) 6 There is a bunch of lucks down cellar. 1883Leisure Hour 243/1 The loose fragments of wool..are made up into bales by themselves under the name of ‘locks’.
attrib.1866Rogers Agric. & Prices I. xvii. 365 Inferior wool, known in the accounts as broken, refuse, or lock wool. 1899Daily News 23 May 10/3 Fur machinists for lock linings wanted.
3. A quantity, usually a small one, of any article, esp. of hay or straw; a handful, armful, a bundle. Now dial. Also in Sc. legal phrase lock and gowpen.
c1440Promp. Parv. 311/1 Lok of hey, or oþer lyke, vola. 1563–87Foxe A. & M. (1596) 1879/2 His lying was upon the cold ground, hauing not one lock of straw, nor cloth to couer him. 1575Gascoigne Posies, Flowers 38 Fewe men wyll lend a locke of heye, but for to gaine a loade. 1629Orkney Witch Trial in N. Brit. Advertiser Oct. 1894 [He] fearing your evill, went to the barne and geve yow ane look corne. a1635Corbet Poems (1807) 95 So good clothes ne're lay in stable Upon a lock of hay. 1661D. North in R. North Lives (1826) II. 308 Good grass which the adjacent inhabitants in summer cut down and make into locks. 1673A. Walker Leez Lachrymans 8 A lock or strik of Flax. 1711Addison Spect. No. 131 ⁋9, I suppose this Letter will find thee picking of Daisies, or smelling to a Lock of Hay. 1804R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 89 Monie went there [Burgh Races] a lock money to bet. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xiii. note, The expression lock for a small quantity..is still preserved..in a legal description as ‘the lock and gowpen’ or small quantity and handful. 1823New Monthly Mag. IX. 454/2 Spreading a good lock of tar round the bottom of the bush. 1827Carlyle Germ. Rom. I. 47 Gleaning, if so were that a lock of wheat might still be gathered from these neglected ears. 1843Lever J. Hinton xxi. (1844) 142 It isn't a lock of bacon or a bag of meal he cares for. 1847Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VIII. ii. 283 Children following the waggons to pick the locks of clover left by the pitchers. 1874T. Hardy Madding Crowd iii, I'll curl up to sleep in a lock of straw.
▪ II. lock, n.2|lɒk|
Forms: 1–4 loc, 4–6 lok, loke, 4–5 lokk(e, 4–7 locke, 3– lock.
[OE. loc neut. corresponds to OFris. lok lock, OS. lok hole, OHG. loh (MHG., mod.G. loch) hole, ON. lok lid, also end, conclusion (Sw. lock, Da. laag lid):—OTeut. *lokom, *lukom, f. *luk-, wk.-grade of the root *lū̆k- (:leuk- :louk-) to close, enclose (see louk v.). OE. had also from the same root loca wk. masc. (cf. ON. loka wk. fem., lock or latch, MDu. lōke enclosure): see loke.
The great diversity of meanings in the Teut. words seems to indicate two or more independent but formally identical substantival formations from the root.]
I. A contrivance for fastening.
1. a. An appliance for fastening a door, lid, etc., consisting of a bolt (or system of bolts) with mechanism by which it can be propelled and withdrawn by means of a key or similar instrument. (In OE. app. used with wider meaning, applied, e.g. to a bar, bolt, latch, or the like.)
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. i. i. (Schipper) 9 Mid þam æðelestum ceastrum..ða þe wæron mid..ᵹeatum and þam trumestum locum ᵹetimbrade. c1000ælfric Hom. II. 572 Godes engel undyde ða locu ðæs cwearternes. c1175Lamb. Hom. 127 Þet is þet loc þeðe deofel ne con unlucan. a1300–1400Cursor M. 17357 (Gött.) Þai..vndid þair lock all wid þe kay. c1315Shoreham i. 2146 Seynt Iohan..seȝ a bok was fast ischet Wyþ strong[e] lokes seuene. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 266 Ich..pryuyliche hus pors shok, vnpiked hus lokes. a1420Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1098 Necessarie vnto him is it Barres and lokkes stronge for to haue. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lv. 13 Thai brak vp durris, and raeff vp lockis. 1536Reg. Riches in Antiq. Sarisb. (1771) 195 Gemmels and locks of silver, containing the Coronation of our Lady. 1562Child Marriages 131 To pull out the nayles of the hindges, and open hit [a chest] on the other side, contrary to the locke. 1611Bible Song Sol. v. 5 My hands dropped with myrrhe..vpon the handles of the locke. a1625Beaum. & Fl. Noble Gent. v. i, A strange locke that opens with Amen. 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1797) 311 See under how many locks and doors these metals are secured. 1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 263 Early fame of Wolverhampton locks. 1889G. Findlay Eng. Railway 94 The Electric lock has been designed to lock and unlock sidings at a distance from the signal box.
transf. and fig.1340Ayenb. 255 Do to þine mouþe a dore and a loc. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 198 And þat is þe lok of loue þat vn-loseþ grace. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 132 The locke of good aduysement shall be set on our lyppes. 1725Ramsay Gentle Sheph. iii. iv, Obedience to your strict command Was the first lock. 1831Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. vi, I kept a lock upon my lips.
¶ App. explained to mean: A wicket or hatch (or perh. a leaf of a door or casement). Cf. louk n.
c1440Promp. Parv. 311/1 Loke, sperynge of a dore or wyndow, valva. [See Way's note s.v.]
b. Phrases. lock and key (rarely † key and lock) occurs freq. as a phraseological combination in the literal sense or as a typical expression for appliances for fastening or securing; also fig. (freq. attrib.) with allusion to the structural complementarity or mutual specificity of a lock and its key. under lock and key, formerly also † under (a) lock (cf. key n. 1 b): securely locked up. So under lock and seal, † under lock and hasp, etc.
a1250Owl & Night. 1557 He hire bi-lukþ myd keye and loke. a1300–1400Cursor M. 14711 (Gött.) Ioseph..ȝe lokid vnder lock and sele. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xx. 89 Þare es na thing vnder lokk, and als riche es a man as anoþer. 1413Hoccleve Min. Poems (1892) 48 He, of thy soules helthe, is lok and keye. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 373 Kepenge hit with grete diligence vnder a locke. c1485Digby Myst. (1882) i. 389 God, that art both lok and keye of all goodnesse. 1522Bury Wills (Camden) 116 A rownde tabyll of waynskott wt lok and key. c1570Marr. Wit & Sci. ii. i. B ij, Althinges must be kept vnder locke and haspe. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. xxxi. 154 With great care [they] kept their wyves so closely under lock and key. 1635J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 105 The foremost [room] whereof was assured with a good lock and key. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 62 Under lock and key, in the..store room. [1894E. Fischer in Ber. d. Deut. Chem. Ges. XXVII. 2992 Um ein Bild zu gebrauchen, will ich sagen, dass Enzym und Glucosid wie Schloss und Schlüssel zu einander passen müssen, um eine chemische Wirkung auf einander ausüben zu können.] 1899M. Cholmondeley Red Pottage 224 She has a lock-and-key face. 1901C. A. Mitchell tr. Oppenheimer's Ferments v. 65 Two haptophore groups coinciding with one another (‘lock and key’) and a subsequently active zymophore group. 1924K. G. Falk Chem. Enzyme Actions (ed. 2) v. 116 E. Fischer's lock-and-key simile for the mutual getting together of substrate and enzyme, each fitting in with the other, gives a mechanical picture of the action. 1950Sci. News XV. 120 So far, blood group antibodies have been described as having the property of reacting by agglutination with red cells which contain the specific antigen, and with no others, on the lock-and-key principle. 1969Times 25 Apr. 13/6 It seems that some of the proteins in the mixture are able to recognize and bind to certain sites on the RNA molecule by a lock-and-key mechanism. 1974Physics Bull. Dec. 581/1 The lock and key interaction between enzyme and substrate does not usually involve strong covalent bonds.
c. locks-and-keys (dial.): see quots.
1837J. F. Palmer Devon. Gloss., Locks-and-keys, the seed-pods of the ash and sycamore. 1847Halliwell, Locks-and-keys. Ash-keys. West.
2. ‘A cotter or key; as the one which fastens the cap-square over the trunnion of a mounted cannon; a forelock’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875).
†3. A hobble or shackle on a horse's (or other animal's) foot to prevent it from straying. Also horse-lock. Obs.
[1486etc.: see horse-lock.] 1528Lyndesay Dreme 894 Quho wyll go sers amang sic heirdis scheip, May, habyll, fynd mony pure scabbit crok, And goyng wyll at large, withouttin lok. 1539MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., Payd for a lock for the mare. 1610Markham Masterp. ii. lxxxiv. 364 If a horse be galled in the pastorne, on the heele, or vpon the cronet, either with shackell or locke. 1695Lond. Gaz. No. 3065/4 Stolen or Stray'd.., a Roan..Gelding,..with a Lock on his Foot.
transf.1589Hakluyt Voy. 151 Till at the last, God sent him [John Fox] fauour in the sight of the keeper of the prison, so that he had leaue to goe in and out..wearing a locke about his legge.
4. A contrivance to keep a wheel from revolving, or from turning to right or left. (Cf. lock-chain.)
1884J. G. Bourke Snake-Dance Moquis i. 8 There was no brake, no shoe to the wheels. 1898Cycling 37 Steering Locks are valuable..for preventing the machine from moving when resting against a wall.
5. In fire-arms, the piece of mechanism by means of which the charge is exploded. (See also firelock, flint-lock, matchlock.) Phr. lock, stock, and barrel = the entirety of anything; also as advb. phr. (See also stock n.1 28 b.)[Appears first in the comb. firelock. Prob. the name is due to some resemblance of the mechanism of the original wheel firelock to that of a lock (sense 1). Cf. G. schloss, used both for the ‘lock’ of a door and the ‘lock’ of a gun.] 1547, etc. [see firelock 1]. 1681Grew Musæum 366 Under the Breech of the Barrel is one Box for the Powder. A little before the Lock, another for the Bullets; Behind the Cock, a Charger, which carries the Powder to the further end of the Lock. 1725Lond. Gaz. No. 6390/2 They broke some of the Locks of their Pieces. 1833J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 90 The priming was laid in the hollow at the side of the lock. 1839Marryat Phant. Ship iv, I'll put a new flint in my lock. 1842W. T. Thompson Major Jones' Courtship (1844) 66 All moved, lock, stock, and barrel. 1855S. A. Hammett Wonderful Adventures Captain Priest xii. 76 He sold off his feathered stock, ‘lock, stock, and barrel’. 1891R. Kipling Light that failed v, The whole thing, lock, stock, and barrel, isn't worth one big yellow sea-poppy. 1909[see cagey a.]. 1961B. Fergusson Watery Maze xii. 292 One of the ministries would take over lock, stock and barrel the administration. 1974P. Erdman Silver Bears i. 12, I bought us a Swiss bank: lock, stock and barrel.
6. Short for row-lock.
1850Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. xii. (1859) 178, I had placed my left hand and weight against the oar. Instantly laying hold of his own in like manner, his first effort broke it short at the lock.
II. A barrier, an enclosure. [Cf. OE. gáta loc pen for goats.]
†7. A barrier on a river, constructed so as to be opened or closed at pleasure. (See quot. 1758.) Obs.
c1300Rolls of Parlt. I. 475 Il sont desturbeez par Gortz, par Lokes, & par Molins. 1472–5Ibid. VI. 159/1 Milles, Mille dammes, Mille pooles, Lokkes,..and dyvers other ympedymentes. 1531–2Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 5 §1 Weares..gores gootes fludgates lockes. 1576in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 387 A lock called Rewley lock is to be repayred. 1613–16W. Browne Brit. Past. i. ii. Wks. 1772 I. 47 Let no man dare To spoile thy fish, make locke or ware. 1677Plot Oxfordsh. 233 Provided the fall of water be not great, a Lock will suffice, which is made up only of bars of wood called Rimers, set perpendicularly to the bottom of the passage. 1758Binnell Descr. Thames 158 The Use of Locks was happily invented, which are a Kind of wooden Machines, placed quite a-cross the River, and so contrived, as totally to obstruct the Current of the Stream, and dam up the Water.
†8. The passage or waterway between the piers of a bridge. Obs.
1545in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 177 A certen lokk..called Ruly myddell lokk shall be stopped upp. 1685Lond. Gaz. No. 2062/4 Vessels..too large to pass through any other Lock of the said Bridge. 1705Ibid. No. 4121/4 The Lock belonging to London-Bridge, commonly called the Draw-Bridge-Lock, will be barrocaded up. 1813T. Faulkner Fulham 6 The largest opening for the passage of vessels is in the middle,..and is called Walpole's Lock.
9. a. On a canal or river: A portion of the channel shut off above and below by folding gates provided with sluices to let the water out or in, and thus raise or lower boats from one water level to another.
1577W. Vallans Tale two Swannes in Leland's Itin. (1759) V. p. xiii, This locke containes two double doores of wood, Within the same a Cesterne all of Plancke, Which only fills when boates come there to passe. 1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 154 Building two great Stone Locks or Sluces to let down and bring up the Ships. 1742Young Nt. Th. vi. 511 O be content, where heav'n can give no more! More, like a flash of water from a lock, Quickens our spirit's movement for an hour. 1794S. Williams Vermont 34 Except the falls, which the states are now making navigable by locks. a1817T. Dwight Trav. New Eng., etc. (1821) II. 94 The whole number of locks, including a guard lock, is seven. 1831Lardner Hydrost. iv. 67 The surface of the water in the lock is thus slowly elevated raising the vessel with it. 1866M. Arnold Thyrsis xiii, Where is the girl, who by the boatman's door, Above the locks..Unmoor'd our skiff?
b. The quantity of water which fills a lock.
1791W. Jessop Rep. River Witham 7 The Trade on the Navigation..will take two Locks of water.
†c. A ‘lift’ on a railway, for raising and lowering vehicles from one level to another. Obs.
a1824Dickson in Trans. Highland Soc. VI. 115 The plans for the locks may be divided into two, one for water, condensed air or steam; one for animal power, wind [etc.]. 1825Nicholson Operat. Mech. 659 Where locks or lifts occur [on a railway], the stationary steam-engine should drag up the vehicle..not simply from the one level to the other, but to a platform some feet above the higher level.
d. Short for lock-keeper.
1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. viii, ‘I am the Lock’, said the man. ‘The Lock?’ ‘I am the Deputy Lock on job, and this is the Lock-house.’
10. Engineering. More fully air-lock. An ante-chamber giving access to a chamber in which work is carried on in compressed air; also, a similar chamber used between air at atmospheric pressure and either water (e.g. outside a submarine) or a vacuum (e.g. outside a spacecraft).
1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 49 Air-lock. Ibid. 421 s.v. Caisson. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 16 Oct. 3/1 Entrance is obtained by means of a couple of ‘locks’, tubular chambers about 6 ft. in diameter. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 41 Perhaps the most frequent exciting cause [of caisson disease] is too rapid a reduction of the pressure in ‘locking out’, that is, in passing from the caisson to the open air through the lock or ante-chamber. 1914S. F. Walker Submarine Engin. iii. 35 The air lock..is a chamber with doors at each end, arranged so that only a small quantity of air or water can enter each time the lock is opened. 1959‘Wyndham’ & Parker Outward Urge ii. 66 The duty-man operated the lock, and presently Troon was outside. 1961E. Leyland Crash Dive viii. 91 Taking the place of the Twill Trunk..came the Escape Chamber method, a permanent chamber or lock entered by way of a watertight door.
III. Senses derived from lock v.1
11. a. A locking together, interlocking; † an unintelligible or ambiguous discourse (obs.); an assemblage of objects jammed together, now esp. a crowd of carriages in the streets, a ‘block’, ‘jam’.
1550Gardiner in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 759/1 The worst man of all is that will make him self a locke of wordes and speach, which is knowen not to be my faction,..and how can that be a doubtfull speach in him that professeth to agree with the kinges lawes,..which I did expresly. 1697Dryden æneid v. 265 Sergesthus, eager with his Beak, to press Betwixt the Rival Galley and the Rock, Shuts up th' unwieldy Centaur in the Lock. 1834De Quincey in Tait's Mag. I. 594, I have seen all Albemarle Street closed by a ‘lock’ of carriages. 1854Thackeray Newcomes I. 231 Stopped on the road from Epsom in a lock of carriages. 1857Abridg. Specif. Patents Sewing, etc. 17 The stitch produced is termed the ‘chain stitch’, the two threads having a double lock with each other.
b. lock and block (system): a system of railway signalling by which a train does not enter a section of line until the preceding train has left it, the signal being locked at ‘danger’ and only released when the preceding train leaves the section.
1902Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 146/2 ‘Lock-and-block’ has been used to a limited extent on a good many lines in England and a half-dozen in America. 1905Westm. Gaz. 12 Jan. 7/2 The failure was partly due to faulty line circuits of the lock and block instruments. 1950Engineering 1 Dec. 436/1 Signals..operated mechanically..with the Sykes lock-and-block system. 1956Railway Mag. Nov. 748/1 The Sykes lock-and-block, although old fashioned,..has a long record of reliable service in the operation of dense traffic.
c. Rugby Football. A player in the second row of the scrummage (see quots.); this position. Also attrib., as lock-forward, lock-man.
1906Gallaher & Stead Compl. Rugby Footballer vii. 100 Working the [New Zealand] Scrum... The lock [etc.]. Ibid. 104 Immediately behind these hookers..is he whom we call the lock man... His duty is to hold or lock the two hookers. a1914J. E. Raphael Mod. Rugby Football (1918) xvii. 225 The middle man in the second row, the ‘lock’, bound the ‘hookers’ together, not his own row. 1956V. Jenkins Lions Rampant ii. 23 Mr Siggins..was one of the finest lock-forwards of his day. 1959Times 10 Sept. 4/3 It was strange to see the former hefty England wing, Woodward, at lock in the blues' scrummage. 1971Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. 20/6 Springboks fullback Ian McCallum, prop Hannes Marais and lock Frik du Preez are in the opening fixture.
12. a. A grapple, grip, or trick in wrestling (cf. quot. 1899); hence fig. (a) a stratagem, trick, dodge; (b) a difficulty, dilemma, chiefly in phr. (to be, have, put) at, on, or upon a (the) lock. Obs. (Cf. deadlock n.)
1608Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Whore (1630) G 3 b, He and foure of his men drew vpon me, sir..I made no more adoe, but fell to my old locke, and so thrashed my blue Coates, [etc.]. 1616J. Lane Cont. Sqr.'s T. (Chaucer Soc.) 129 note, Both closelie graplinge with a mutual locke. 1644Milton Educ. 7 They must be also practiz'd in all the locks and gripes of wrastling. 1646Fuller Wounded Consc. (1841) 321 If the devil catches us at this lock, he will throw us flat. 1650Cromwell in Carlyle Lett. & Sp. (1871) III. 40 Being indeed upon this lock, hoping that the disease of your army would render their work more easy. 1651― Let. 26 July, The Enemy is at his old lock. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 41 At that lock they often were, and some good Planters too, that far'd very hard. 1663Cowley Cutter Coleman St. iv. iv, Why look you, Colonel, he's at's old Lock, he's at's May-bees again. 1672Marvell Reh. Transp. i. 159 This, beside all the lock and advantage that I have the Nonconformists upon the since the late times. Ibid. 216 Now the Author having got them at this lock cries Victory. 1699R. L'Estrange Erasm. Colloq. (1711) 225 He was now upon the same lock with Balbinus. 1723Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 39 My inclination is..that you keep the books to yourself rather than put the Colonel upon the lock. 1744P. Whitehead Gymnasiad iii. 42 note, The youthful hero, being on the lock, must again inevitably have come to the ground. 1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 256 A few heavy tumbles were given without a trip or a lock. 1899Cumbld. Gloss., Lock, a term in wrestling, used when the left (right) leg is passed between the opponent's legs, and then twisted round his right (left) leg by a motion which is first backward, then outward, and finally forward. 1954E. Dominy Teach Yourself Judo iii. 41 There are only a few basic types of lock and these can be developed by anyone sufficiently interested. 1974‘J. Le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor xxii. 189 Guillam selected Tarr's right arm and flung it into a lock against his back, bringing it very near to breaking. 1974P. Erdman Silver Bears xiii. 143 He would sooner see the whole bank go down the drain..than get beaten by us. Unless we develop an even better lock on him—and that won't be easy.
b. slang. (See quots.)
1725New Cant. Dict., s.v., He stood a queer Lock; i.e. He stood an indifferent Chance. 1735in Dyche & Pardon Dict. c1780G. Parker Life's Painter 116 What lock do you cut now? [explained to mean ‘by what way do you get your livelihood now?’ Ibid. 137]. 1785in Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue s.v.
13. (to walk) lock and lock = arm in arm.
1837Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xxiii, She don't wait any more for him to walk lock and lock with her.
14. The occupation of locking (prison-cells). on the lock: engage in locking up.
1855Dickens Dorrit ii. xix, Will you go and see if Bob is on the lock?
15. a. The swerving (to right or left) of the wheels of the fore-carriage of a vehicle from the line of direction of the hind-wheels. (Cf. lock v.1 3.)
1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 366 New application..to a caravan, or waggon,..to allow a higher fore wheel, and give a greater amount of lock. 1875in Knight Dict. Mech.
b. The turning of the front wheels of a motor vehicle to change its direction of motion; the full extent of such turning.
1908Autocar Handbk. (ed. 2) xvi. 123 There should be plenty of ‘lock’ for the wheels, which, with an inconsequence not unusual in our language, means that the wheels shall be quite free to be deflected through a large angle. 1939L. MacNeice Autumn Jrnl. xxiv. 79 The quick lock of a taxi. 1959Observer 1 Mar. 21/5 From lock to lock it takes 35/8 turns, allowing prompt correction if a heavy throttle foot should provoke tail wag on a slippery surface. Turning circle is 37 ft. 1967Autocar 28 Dec. 10/2 The 35 ft 3 in. mean turning circle with 4·25 turns lock-to-lock is not excessive. 1974L. Meynell Fairly Innocent xi. 148, I must have got on to the wrong lock... I don't really understand about going backwards.
16. Plastering (See quot.)
1875Knight Dict. Mech., Lock (Plastering), the projection of the plaster or cement behind the lath, which keeps it from falling or scaling off.
17. Thieves' slang. (App. short for lock-all-fast: see first quot.) A receiver of stolen goods; also, a house where stolen goods are received.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Lock all fast, one that Buys and Conceals Stolen Goods. The Lock, the Magazine or Warehouse whither the Thieves carry Stolen Goods. 1718Higgin True Discov. 16 (Farmer) That woman they spoke to as they passed by is a Lock, alias Receiver and Buyer of stolen goods. 1727Gay Begg. Op. i. ii, Betty hath brought more goods into our Lock to-year than any five of the Gang. 1804Europ. Mag. XLV. 365/1 We lament that this ancient palace of the Kings of France should become a Lock, (which..means a repository for stolen goods).
IV.
18. (Now usually with capital L; more fully Lock-hospital.) A hospital for the treatment of venereal diseases.
The ‘Lock lazar-house’ in Southwark, which is mentioned as having received a bequest in 1452, was afterwards employed as a hospital for venereal diseases, and its name came to be used as a general designation for institutions of that kind. The origin of the name is uncertain; it has been conjectured that the ‘Lock lazar-house’ was so called as being specially isolated or quarantined.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, The Lock,..an Hospital for Pockey Folks in Kent-street. 1720Becket in Phil. Trans. XXXI. 60 The Lock beyond St. Georges Church, and that at Kingsland, are at this time applyed to no other use than for the entertainment and Cure of such as have the Venereal Malady. 1753Smollett Ct. Fathom (1784) 157/1 To erect an hospital, lock, or infirmary, by the voluntary subscription of his friends. 1755Fleming in Phil. Trans. XLIX. 263 note, Mr. John Clark, now surgeon to the Lock-Hospital, near Hyde-Park Corner. 1766Entick Lond. IV. 444 There is a lock hospital for venereal complaints. 1869E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 501 Certified Lock Hospitals are provided for her treatment. 1922Joyce Ulysses 509 Mary Shortall that was in the lock with the pox.
V. attrib. and Comb.
19. a. simple attributive, as (sense 1) lock-bolt, lock-staple; (sense 5) lock-action, lock-cover, lock-lanyard, lock-plate, lock-side, lock-stop, lock-string; (sense 9) lock-bank, lock-bar, lock-bridge, lock-canal, lock-charge, lock-cut, lock-duty, lock-gate, lock-hatch, lock-house, lock-man, lock-pen, lock-side, lock-station, lock-thief, lock-wall. b. signifying ‘provided with a lock or locks’, as (sense 1) † lock-chest, † lock-cock, (U.S.), † lock-house; (sense 9) lock-weir.
1898R. Kipling in Morn. Post 7 Nov. 5/1 A Maxim [gun] making sure of its *lock-action.
1773Ann. Reg. 66 Upwards of 600..workmen were entertained upon the *lock-banks with an ox roasted whole.
1923F. L. Packard Four Stragglers 312 The *lock-bar worked through the side of the pier wall.
1865Dickens Mut. Fr. II. iv. i. 162 He crossed back by his plank *lock-bridge to the towing-path side.
1903Westm. Gaz. 2 Jan. 3/1, I imagine that the Panama waterway is to be a *lock canal.
1877J. Habberton Jericho Road ii. 20 Dont you b'leeve she could run the dam at Mount Zion, and dodge paying *lock-charges?
1552Inventories (Surtees) ii, ij *lok-chestes.
1814Sporting Mag. XLIII. 112 Beer..which stood in a corner of his front parlour, with a *lock-cock to it.
1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 103 Unstrap the Carbine; take off the *lock-cover.
1905Westm. Gaz. 16 Aug. 5/3 Motor boats..probably find their way down *lock-cuts made more difficult and tedious than before. 1908Daily Chron. 30 Apr. 1/2 An assistant lockkeeper..found the body of a child floating in the lock-cut.
1776Adam Smith W.N. v. i. (1869) II. 308 The toll or *lock-duty upon a canal.
1677Plot Oxfordsh. 233 *Lock-gates put down between every two of them. 1795J. Phillips Hist. Inland Navig. 338 The most effectual..method of providing lock-gates.
1710Brit. Apollo III. No. 70. 2/1 Whether tame Rabbits may not be as Good..as the Wild..provided they are kept in a *Lock-house, having the advantage of [etc.]. 1865[see 9 d].
1890Century Dict. s.v. Lanyard, A *lock-lanyard is the cord fastened to the lock of a gun by which the gun is fired.
1887Times 14 Oct. 3/4 Robinson, *lockman at the South West India Docks.
1907Westm. Gaz. 20 Aug. 12/1 The *lock-pen..opens and shuts now to let through the Queen Elizabeth in solitary state.
c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 11 On the stock is a..*lock plate.
1860All Year Round No. 71. 500 The stock is divided into the..*lock-side [etc.]. 1897Daily News 30 July 5/2 At Molesey only a limited number of people are admitted to the lock-side.
1898Athenæum 7 May 594/3 The place where the *lock-staple had once been fitted.
1863E. E. Hale If, Yes & Perhaps (1868) 16, I would start in the morning to walk to the *lock-station at Brockport on the canal.
1883Ld. Saltoun Scraps I. 280 The rifle was loaded and capped, but secured by the *lock-stops.
1885Century Mag. XXIX. 758, I..ran out the gun, and, taking deliberate aim, pulled the *lockstring.
1863E. E. Hale If, Yes & Perhaps (1868) 22 At night I walked the deck till one o'clock..to keep guard against the *lock-thieves.
1885Warren & Cleverly Wand. ‘Beetle’ 61 He ran along the *lock-wall to open his gates when he saw us coming.
1831T. L. Peacock Crotchet Castle iv. 67 Mud, filth, gas-dregs, *lock-weirs..have ruined the fishery.
c. objective, as (sense 1) lock-filer, lock-maker, lock-picker; lock-making; (sense 9) lock-keeper, lock-owner, lock-shutter, lock-tender.
1858Greener Gunnery 213 They have..obtained a much better price than any other *lock-filers out of London.
1794Rennie Rep. Thames Navig. 53 Examination..of the *Lock-keeper's books. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. ii. (1889) 12 The lock-keeper again came to the rescue with his boat-hook.
1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 111/2 It is still possible for a mechanic of equal skill with the *lock-maker to open it without the key. 1850Chubb Locks & Keys 16 The lock-makers of England.
1787Bramah Locks 6 The art of *Lock-making. 1882W. Morris in Mackail Life (1899) II. 68 Am I doing nothing but make⁓believe, something like Louis XVI's lock-making?
1731in Extracts from Navig. Rolls 23 Unless Notice hath been..given to the said *Lock-owners.
1882Stevenson Fam. Stud. (1901) 151 Thieves, cheats and *lockpickers.
1751in Extracts from Navig. Rolls 13 To the *Lock-shutter 6d. 1788Act 28 Geo. III, c. 51 §18 Bargemen, Watermen, Lock-Shutters.
1877Burroughs Taxation i. 37 Gardens occupied by *lock-tenders..were exempt.
20. Special comb. (in some cases perhaps combinations with the vb. stem): lock-band, -bay (see quots.); lock-box U.S., a delivery letter-box provided with a lock; lock-chain, a chain employed to lock the wheels of a vehicle; lock-chamber, the space enclosed between the side-walls and gates of a lock; lock-hole, † (a) a keyhole; (b) ‘the recess in a musket-stock to receive the lock’ (Knight); lock-in, the action or fact of locking in a person or thing (see lock v.1 2 and 3 e); also attrib.; lock-net (see quot.); Locknit, the proprietary name (but see quot. 1935) of a fabric knitted with an interlocking stitch; also lock-knit; freq. attrib.; lock-nut, a nut screwed down upon another to prevent its breaking loose, a check-nut; also, a nut specially designed to prevent accidental loosening once it has been tightened; lock-paddle (see quot.); lock-pen = lock-chamber; lock-piece, (a) ‘in guns of the old construction, a lug cast just alongside of the vent for the attachment of the lock’ (Knight); (b) (see quot. 1860); † lock-pit, ? = sense 9; lock-pool, ? = lasher 4 b; lock-pulley, two pulleys formed to rotate separately, or together, at will (Knight); lock-rail (see quot. 1842); lock-saw, a long tapering saw, used to cut the seat for a lock in a door; lock-seat, the excavation on a river or canal intended to contain a lock; † lock-shoe, -sill (see quots.); lock-spring, the spring by means of which the case of a watch is opened or closed; lock-step Mil. (see quot.); also fig., a rigid or unchanging pattern; also attrib., rigid, unchanging; hence lock-step adv. and vb.; lock-stitch, a sewing-machine stitch, in which two threads are locked firmly together; also attrib.; lock timber Mining (see quot.); lock-tool = lock-cramp; lock-work, (a) the manufacture or construction of locks (senses 1 and 9); (b) the parts of a lock; (c) a series of locks (sense 9); (d) pl. a factory for the manufacture of locks (sense 1); (e) pl. operations in progress for the construction of locks (sense 9).
c1582Digges in Archæologia (1794) XI. 233 The hewinge of the stone ashlar, and Endstons, with artyficiall bevelinge, and *lockbands, one within another, will amounte..for the rodde 16s. 6d. 1847Halliwell, Lock-bands, binding stones in masonry.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Lock-bay, the pond or space of water between the gates of a canal-lock.
1872E. Crapsey Nether Side N.Y. 150 C. H. Chester, M.D., *Lock Box 4, Reading, Pa. 1906M. E. Freeman By Light of Soul 384 She saw one letter slanted across the dusty glass of the box. It was not a lock box, and she had to ask the postmaster for the letter. 1955E. Pound Section: Rock Drill lxxxviii. 42 A First Folio (Shx) in his lock-box.
1859Marcy Prairie Trav. iii. 93 If there are no *lock-chains upon wagons, the front and rear wheels on the same side may be tied together with ropes so as to lock them very firmly.
1861Smiles Engineers I. 375 *Lock chamber.
1592Greene Philom. E 4 b, The Earle..peeping in at the *locke hole, saw them two standing..hand in hand. 1752J. Louthian Form of Process (ed. 2) 87 Within the Lock-hole of the most patent Door of his Dwelling-house. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 7 The mistic tribes of night's unnerving breeze, That through a lock-hole even creep with ease.
1920Contemp. Rev. Dec. 823 To the lock-out of the masters, the workers replied with the ‘*lock-in’ movement—the temporary capture of the factories and work⁓shops. 1970Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. B7/6 There may be some giving in on peripheral items such as reducing the length of lock-in clauses. 1973Times 25 Jan. 23/5 First, there is the ‘lock-in’ factor. Given additional tax burdens, the first reaction of any jobber is to feel less inclined to sell.
1863Buckland Curios. Nat. Hist. Ser. ii. (ed. 4) 251 The ‘*lock nets’..are simply a large form of the round nets used to catch freshwater crayfish.
1935Trade Marks Jrnl. 8 May 588/2 Lansil Locknit. Registration of this Trade Mark shall give no right to the exclusive use of the word ‘*Locknit’. Knitted piece goods composed wholly or mainly of artificial silk. Cellulose Acetate Silk Company, Ltd...Lancaster. 1936Times 14 Feb. 9/5 A three-piece in pale blue chalk stripe locknit and plain jersey. 1951Good Housek. Home Encycl. 231/1 Lock-knit or open weave articles should be dried flat. 1952‘J. Tey’ Singing Sands vi. 93 Hams hung from the roof among strings of locknit undergarments. 1973R. Rendell Some lie & Some Die ix. 84 Passing her iron across a pair of pink locknit knickers.
a1864Gesner Coal, Petrol. etc. (1865) 79 Leakage around the pipe [is] prevented by two *locknuts. 1887D. A. Low Machine Drawing 20 In practice, the thin nut, called the lock⁓nut, is often placed on the outside. 1907Westm. Gaz. 21 Nov. 4/2 The steering is..of the worm and segment type, the adjustment of which is easily effected by releasing a lock-nut and slightly turning the steering column. 1964S. Crawford Basic Engin. Processes xiv. 304 The rollers are secured by tightening the locknut with the special adjusting key. 1972Practical Motorist Oct. 162/3 If this resistance is felt before the vertical position of the lever is reached, or if no resistance is felt at all, adjustment can be made by loosening the lock-nut ‘C’.
1842Francis Dict. Arts, *Lock Paddles, the small sluices used in filling and emptying locks.
1891A. J. Foster Ouse 170 Most of the *lock-pens will only hold two lighters at a time.
1860Eng. & For. Mining Gloss. (Cornwall Terms), *Lock piece, a piece of timber used in supporting the workings.
1802Hull Dock Act 1503 With a *lockpit or entrance into the same from the said river Humber.
1772Extracts from Navig. Rolls Remarks p. ix, A strong Breast-work of Piles on the upper Side of the *Lock-pool. 1881H. W. Taunt Thames Map p. xv/1 Caution should always be used when in a weir or lock-pool.
1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 589 On the *lock-rail the lock is either mortised in, or screwed on. 1842–59Gwilt Archit. 568 The next are called the lock or middle rails in doors.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 365/1 A *Lock Saw..to make Key holes in Doors.
1794Washington Let. Writ. 1892 XIII. 1 Mr. Weston's opinion, respecting the *lock-seats at the Great Falls of that river.
1785G. Forster tr. Sparrman's Voy. Cape G.H. (1786) I. 124 In order that the wheel that is to be locked may not be worn,..a kind of sledge carriage, hollowed out on the inside, and called a *lock-shoe is fitted to it.
1842Francis Dict. Arts, *Lock-sills, the angular pieces of timber at the bottom of the lock against which the gates shut.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 47 The *lock spring fits in a groove formed in the band of the case.
1802C. James Milit. Dict., *Lock-step, this step consist in the heel of one man being brought nearly in contact with the joint of the great toe of another. 1816J. Scott Vis. Paris (ed. 5) 55 The men who are now practising the lock-step in front of the window of Louis XVIII. 1828Examiner 630/1 A Sailor toe-and-heels it, and lock-steps and straddles. 1836T. Power Impressions Amer. I. 379 They [sc. convicts] were marched from the building in squads, using what is called the ‘lock-step’, and were jammed together as closely as they could possibly travel. 1866Thoreau Yankee in Canada ii. 25, I observed one older man..marching lock-step with the rest. 1955Sci. News Let. 16 Apr. 255 A ‘what will people think’ disease is driving us all, cab driver as well as scientist, toward straitjacketed thinking and lock-step living. 1963New Society 7 Nov. 19/1 The prescribed lock-step of school life. 1971New Yorker 30 Oct. 155 Mrs. Handy's lockstep methods (copy the great novelists, read the ‘Masters of the Far East’, stay away from girls) produced a handful of published novels. 1972Business Week 18 Mar. 32/1 The break could occur if Ireland did not follow Britain into the EEC. For the republic marches in an economic lockstep with Britain. 1973Where Apr. 109/3 Students working..in their own way, and at their own pace, freed from the ‘lock-step’ of the classroom. 1973Time 25 June 74/1 The ‘whole thing’ was an attempt..to break what he calls ‘the lockstep’—the educational process that leads in a straight line from kindergarten through graduate school, and often onward into the walled-in offices of academia.
1869J. Webster in Eng. Mech. 17 Dec. 326/3, I do not say one word against *lock-stitch machines.
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., *Lock-timber, an old plan of putting in stull-pieces in Cornwall and Devon. The pieces were called lock-pieces.
1686Plot Staffordsh. 376 So curious are they in *Lockwork (indeed beyond all preference). 1794W. Combe Boydell's Thames I. 47 A successive apparatus of lock-work, to remedy the various levels of the country. 1857–8Proc. Inst. Civ. Engin. (1858) XVII. 389 The construction of the gates was entirely independent of the lock-work. 1890Pall Mall G. 7 Jan. 2/3 The bright steel and very elaborate lock-work was perfect. 1899Daily News 14 Oct. 6/7 The new lock and safe works recently erected..by Messrs. Chubb and Sons. 190119th Cent. Oct. 550 One finds here..bridge works, lock-works.
Add:[V.] [20.] lock-washer, (a) Engin., a washer, usu. consisting of one complete turn of a helical spring, for placing between a nut and bolt to prevent the nut from coming loose; (b) Biol., a protein sub-unit resembling a lock-washer in shape.
1903Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 23 June 1973/1 A *lock-washer comprising in its construction a body portion of helical shape and constructed of spring material, said body portion being tapered in cross-section. 1941Motor Commerce July 25/3 Adjust the pinion assembly to the correct bearing pre-load..and lock the adjusting nuts in position by a lock-washer. 1971A. C. H. Durham et al. in Nature New Biol. 13 Jan. 42/1 The results show that the helical rods can be formed by direct end to end aggregation of single disks, into which a dislocation has been introduced...We call this converted disk a ‘lock-washer’. 1984Jrnl. Gen. Virology LXV. 256 While there had previously been doubt as to whether the short proto-helix (or ‘lockwasher’) would exist free in solution, the change in sedimentation coefficient from 19S at pH 7.0 to 20S..has now been shown to correlate with measurable proton binding. 1987Ham Radio Today Jan. 22/3 After checking that there are no protruding wires on the underside of the PCB, fit it into place and secure with a lockwasher and nut.
▸ lock-in n. Brit. colloq. a period after the official or legal closing time in a bar or pub during which the remaining customers are permitted to continue drinking.
1991Independent 5 Dec. 20/3 Here is a studio where the phrase ‘lock-out’ is heard less often than the phrase ‘*lock-in’, referring to the after-hours drinking policies of the local pubs. 1996J. King Football Factory (1997) 35, I was only planning a quick one, but it was Kevin the landlord's birthday and he had a bit of a lock-in to celebrate. 2005C. Cleave Incendiary 139 Just then the landlord called time. Terence told him to give us a lock in.
▪ III. lock, v.1|lɒk|
Pa. tense and pa. pple. locked |lɒkt|. Forms: 4–6 lok(e, 4–5 lokke, 5 lokkyn, 4–6 locke, 5– lock.
[f. lock n.2; cf. ON. loka, similarly f. loka n., lock, latch; also ON. lykja (Sw. lycka, Da. lukke.)
The older vb. with this meaning was louk, OE. lúcan; after the 14th c. this survived mainly in the pa. pple. loken, which was probably looked upon as belonging to lock vb.]
1. a. trans. To fasten (a door, gate, box, drawer, etc.) with a lock and key; occas. with † to, up. Hence (chiefly with up), to secure (a chamber, building, enclosure) by locking the doors.
a1300Cursor M. 17347 Þai..did to sper þe dors fast, Locked bath wit-vte and in. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints vii. (Jacobus Minor) 781 Þe Iowis..In til a cawe me closit faste, lokit, & celyt at þe laste. c1440Promp. Parv. 311/2 Lokkyn or schette wythe a lokke. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxii. 215 The gates of the castel ben lokked with the lokkes that dame Isabel sent hidder. 1535Coverdale Judg. iii. 23 Ehud..put to y⊇ dore after him, and lockte it. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iv. 73 Were not my doores lockt vp, and I shut out? 1600in A. Bisset Ess. Hist. Truth v. 218 Maister Alexander locked to the study door behind him. 1651Hobbes Leviath. i. xiii. 62 When going to sleep, he locks his dores. 1726Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 66 The Hour drawing near, they lock'd up the Doors of the House. 1819Byron Juan i. clxxxvii, Juan..liking not the inside, lock'd the out. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 250 The reformers locked up the church and departed with the keyes. 1900Mackenzie Guide Inverness 43 The Greyfriars Churchyard is kept locked.
fig.1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 83 b, Yf the gate of y⊇ mouth be not shutte with the dore of scylence, & locked with the key of discrecyon. 1713Gay Fan iii. 54 Death blasts his bloom, and locks his frozen eyes. 1859FitzGerald tr. Omar vi. (1899) 71 And David's Lips are lock't. 1866B. Taylor Poems, Sorrowful Music 37 This weight of grief Locks my lips. 1879Browning Halbert & Hob 61 His lips were loose not locked.
Proverb.1855Bohn Handbk. Proverbs 445 Lock the stable-door before the steed is stolen. 1885Times (weekly ed.) 11 Sept. 3/1 This is done probably on the principle of locking the stable door after the horse has been stolen.
b. absol. to lock up: to lock up the house, lock the doors.
1901A. Hope Tristram of Blent xxvi. 356 ‘Is her ladyship still out, ma'am?’ he [the butler] asked... ‘I was going to lock up’... ‘Oh, go to bed’, she cried..‘We'll lock up..’.
c. intr. Of a door: To be locked; to admit of being locked.
1590Spenser F.Q. ii. ix. 23 Doubly disparted, it did locke and close, That when it locked, none might thorough pas. Mod. The door will not lock.
2. trans. To shut up or confine with a lock; to put under lock and key. Const. in, into, within. Also with advs. in, up.
a1300Cursor M. 17661 In a hus we lokked þe. 13..K. Alis. 3936 The kyng..bad him loke in prisoun. c1386Chaucer Wife's Prol. 317, I trowe, thou woldest loke me in thy chiste. c1470Henry Wallace iv. 775 ‘To the chawmer, quhar he was vpon chance, Speid fast’, he said, ‘Wallace is lokit in’. a1550Freiris Berwik 221 in Dunbar's Poems (1893) 292 Lok vp all in to ȝone almery. 1590Marlowe Edw. II, ii. ii. 54 The lovers of fair Danaë, When she was lock'd up in a brazen tower, Desir'd her more. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 42 Away then, I am lockt in one of them, If you doe loue me, you will finde me out. 1632J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 17 Some dayes before he had begunne to locke himselfe in his chamber. 1713Swift Frenzy J. Dennis Wks. 1755 III. i. 144 We locked his friend into a closet. 1732Pope Hor. Sat. ii. ii. 13 Your wine lock'd up, If then plain bread and milk will do the feat, The pleasure lies in you, and not the meat. a1745Swift Direct. Servants, Butler 33 Always lock up a Cat in a Closet where you keep your China Plates, for fear the Mice may steal in and break them. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop lxi, The little cell in which he was locked up for the night. 1891Law Times Rep. LXIII. 690/2 The defendant..had given distinct orders to Nunney never to lock anyone up.
3. transf.
a. To enclose, hem in, surround. Chiefly with in.
c1400Mandeville (1839) xxvi. 265 Alle faste y lokked and enclosed with highe Mountaynes. a1400–50Alexander 5495 He lockis in ane ser limy with a laith mey[n]he. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. lxii, The great winding of the River..locks in the Water that it cannot make that haste down to the Sea that it would. 1793Smeaton Eddystone L. §199 Lodged in a dovetail recess, wherein it was locked fast on three sides. 1833Tennyson Pal. Art 249 A still salt pool, lock'd in with bars of sand. 1837Lockhart Scott 19 July an. 1821, He and..his companion, found themselves locked in the crowd, somewhere near Whitehall. 1837Disraeli Venetia vi. i, So completely is the land locked with hills. 1851Dixon W. Penn xxiii. (1872) 201 The vessel was locked in ice.
b. To keep securely or render inaccessible, as if in a locked receptacle. Chiefly with up.
1562Winȝet Cert. Tractates iii. Wks. 1888 I. 27 Worthy to be lokit in the memorie of thaim quha [etc.]. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iv. vi. 194 The seed of plants lockt up and capsulated in their husks. 1646J. Hall Horæ Vac. 92 Keepe your secrets fast lock't up. 1652Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. Ep. Ded. 2 A Jewel..lockt up in a Language unknown to the greatest part of that Nation. 1666Rhode Island Col. Rec. (1857) II. 159 In the hardest winters when the Massachusetts and others..are fast locked up with strong doores of ice. a1763Shenstone Ess. (1765) 40 Prudent men lock up their motives. 1779F. Burney Diary 26 May, As censorious a country lady as ever locked up all her ideas in a country town. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. II. 101 The seaports in Holland and Germany are every winter locked up with ice. 1807–8Syd. Smith Plymley's Lett. Wks. 1859 II. 163/2 The very same wind..locks you up in the British Channel. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) I. viii. 376 Their [sc. Arabians'] literature..locked up in a character..so difficult of access to European scholars. 1855Bain Senses & Int. iii. ii. §26 (1864) 507 Sir Humphrey Davy suggested that metallic substances were locked up in soda, potash, and lime. 1859Gullick & Timbs Paint. 222 Some colours..are perfectly permanent when ‘locked up’ (to use the painter's phrase) in oil. 1879Stainer Music of Bible 157 Their secrets remain for ever locked up.
c. Comm. and Finance. to lock up: To invest (capital) in something that is not easily convertible into money.
1692Locke Consid. Lower. Interest 113 If one Third of the Money imploy'd in Trade were locked up,..must not the Land-holders receive 1/3 less for their Goods. 1833H. Martineau Briery Creek iv. 73 The money he had locked up in land would never be productive while he remained its owner. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. i. v. §9 (1876) 52 To set free a capital which would be otherwise locked up in a form useless for the support of labour. 1868Rogers Pol. Econ. xi. (1876) 149 A banker cannot afford..to have his capital locked up in long advances.
d. Of sleep, stupefying agencies, enchantment: To hold fast, overpower completely. Also with up.
1725Pope Odyss. x. 77 Me, lock'd in sleep, my faithless crew bereft Of all the blessings of your god-like gift! 1789C. Smith Ethelinde (1814) V. 258 He endeavoured to awaken her from the heavy shock which seemed to have locked up her senses. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 119 Went to bed, where I lay fast locked in sleep for eight hours. 1873W. Bruer Serm. & Commun. Addr. 199 His mind may be locked up in insensibility. 1879Geo. Eliot Coll. Breakf. P. 834 That border-world Of dozing ere the sense is fully locked. 1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Nov. xxvi, ‘Art thou the woman of the earth’, she said, ‘That hast in sorceries mine Eros lockt?’
e. Const. in. To trap or fix firmly or irrevocably; to fix in position.
1953Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang (1954) §623a/7 Locking in, adjusting the televised image for a clear picture. Ibid. §623a/10 Locked in, televised image properly synchronized. 1959Economist 16 May 634/2 This may tend to ‘lock in’ many traders with their present holdings. 1968Sunday Times 3 Mar. 51 The Extra campaign had to be aggressive because people are so locked in to coupons. 1968Telegraph (Brisbane) 8 Nov. 14/7 Anything I knew..was too late to help Ford. They already were locked in on their program. 1972Sci. Amer. Nov. 96/3 Lowering its temperature back to normal locks in any deformations due to loadings.
4. To shut off with or as with a lock from (a person); to preclude or prevent from (something) by or as by locking. Also with up.
1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 80 When Marcus Brutus growes so Covetous, To locke such Rascall Counters from his Friends. 1611― Cymb. iv. iv. 2 To locke it [sc. life] From Action and Adventure. 1613Middleton Tri. Truth Wks. (Bullen) VII. 243 He locks his ear from those sweet charms. 1688Lond. Gaz. No. 2378/4 Lost.., a brown bay Filly,..being locked from taking Horse. 1700Congreve Way of World iv. v, Do you lock your self up from me, to make my search more Curious? 1735Pope Prol. Sat. 19 Is there, who, lock'd from ink and paper, scrawls With desp'rate charcoal round his darken'd walls? 1742Young Nt. Th. ix. 285 Angels cannot guess The period; from created beings lock'd In darkness. 1785J. Phillips Treat. Inland Navig. vi, Large tracts of country are locked up from commerce.
5. lock out.
a. To turn (a person) out, and lock the door against him. † Also, to lock forth. lock out.
b. To prevent the entrance of (persons) by locking the door; hence, (of an employer) to refuse employment to (a body of operatives) as a means of coercion. (Cf. lock-out 1)
1590Shakes. Com. Err. iv. i. 18 For locking me out of my doores by day. Ibid. iv. iv. 98 Say wherefore didst thou locke me forth to day? 1592― Rom. & Jul. i. i. 145 Shuts vp his windows, lockes faire day-light out. 1842F. E. Paget Milford Malv. 53 When I was being locked out of yonder church. 1861D. Cook P. Foster's D. i, I am locked out. 1868Rogers Pol. Econ. ix. (1876) 89 Large funds are subscribed, out of which labourers on strike or locked-out are supported.
c. Electronics and Computers. Temporarily to prevent the operation or use of. Cf. lock-out 2.
1953R. C. Walker Relays viii. 222 Voltage selective systems have been devised in which the value of the applied voltage actuates one of a group of thermistors and locks out all the others. 1962Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 47 During an autonomous peripheral transfer, the storage blocks concerned may be locked out to prevent reference to those blocks until completion of the transfer. 1972Computer Jrnl. XV. 194/2 Another circumstance in which an investigation..is called for is when a record that has been locked out preparatory to being updated remains locked out for an unreasonable time.
6. a. To fasten, make or set fast, fix; techn. to fasten or engage (one part of a machine) to another; also in pass., (of a joint) to be rendered rigid. to lock up a form (Printing): to fix the types or pages in a metal frame so as to prepare them for press, etc.
1670–98R. Lassels Voy. Italy II. 106, I saw the great chair which locketh fast any man that sitteth down in it. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. Contents, The world no heap, but a set of Bodies lockt fast together. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing viii, The Office of these Quoyns are to Lock up the Form, viz. to wedge it up..close together. 1816Mechanic I. 370 This scape-wheel is locked on its extreme point, and unlocks in an easy manner. Ibid. 411 The wheels are locked, without spring-work, perfectly safe from getting out of order. 1824J. Johnson Typogr. II. xiv. 495 It is the business of the person who locks-up the form, to ascertain whether all the pages are of an equal length. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 38 A locking clutch is fitted upon the spindle between these two wheels, and can..be made to lock either one of the wheels to the spindle, at the same time that it leaves the other disengaged. 1841Lane Arab. Nts. I. 80 His teeth were locked together. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 142 Every attempt at movement..locking the limb in a tetanoid spasm. 1927R. B. McKerrow Introd. Bibliogr. i. ii. 16 The furniture employed to fill up the chase is ‘locked up’ by the insertion and driving home of wedges or ‘quoins’. 1972P. Gaskell New Introd. Bibliogr. 80 The quoins were driven home with a mallet and ‘shooting stick’ to lock the forme up tightly.
b. To put a lock on the foot of (a horse); to fasten (a wheel) so as to keep it from turning. Cf. lock n.2 3, 4.
1694Lond. Gaz. No. 3011/4 An Iron grey Colt..Lockt on the further Foot before. 1825Cobbett Rur. Rides 19 The descent so steep as to require the wheel of the chaise to be locked. 1884J. G. Bourke Snake-Dance Moquis i. 8 The driver got out, locked the wheels, and walked.
c. intr. for refl. Of mechanism, a joint (e.g. the knee-joint): To become fixed or set fast. † Of an animal's flanks: To draw together, shrink.
1658R. White tr. Digby's Powd. Symp. (1660) 124 The dog..not being able to take any nourishment, his flanks do lock up. 1869W. Blades Bks. in Chains (1892) 219 Our artist..has put quoins at the head and foot too, making the pages lock up all round the chase— truly a mechanical puzzle. 1901Westm. Gaz. 1 Oct. 5/2 The accident was due to the rudder locking. 1902Brit. Med. Jrnl. 12 Apr. 879 When he attempted to bend the knee it locked.
7. a. To fix or join firmly by interlacing or fitting of parts into each other. Also with together, up.
1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 228 And when from thence he struggles to be gone, She locks her lillie fingers one in one. 1598― Merry W. v. v. 81 Pray you, lock hand in hand. 1608Yorksh. Trag. i. ii, Not as a man repentant, but half mad He sits and sullenly locks up his arms. 1720De Foe Capt. Singleton xi. (1840) 187 The Portuguese..ran their bowsprit into the fore part of our main shrouds,..and so we lay locked after that manner. 1725Pope Odyss. ix. 512 In his deep fleece, my grasping hands I lock. a1728Woodward Nat. Hist. Fossils i. (1729) I. 159 The Columns were incorporated with, and lock'd into each other. 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) IV. 1461 It was required, that..we should..have our hands locked together. 1859Tennyson Vivien 288 Merlin lock'd his hand in hers. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Lock, to entangle the lower yards when tacking. 1893McCarthy Red Diamonds III. 233 Granton..locked his right leg round Bland's leg in an attempt to throw him.
b. intr. for refl. To interlock, intertwine.
1688Clayton in Phil. Trans. XVII. 791 The Heads of the Branches of the Rivers interfere and lock one within another. 1806Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2) 94 The stones are..made to lock into one another with grooves and projections. 1858Merc. Marine Mag. V. 227 Until..you observe the North and Inner South Heads locking.
c. Fencing. † (a) = engage v. 17 (obs.); (b) (see quot. 1782).
1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 46 Teaching the people howe to warde, and how to locke, howe to thrust, and how to strike. 1592Arden of Feversham H 2 b, When he should haue lockt with both his hilts He in a brauery florisht ouer his head. 1782Rees Chambers's Cycl., To Lock, in Fencing, is to seize your adversary's sword-arm, by turning your left arm round it, after closing your parade, shell to shell, in order to disarm him. (So in mod. Dicts.)
d. to lock horns: (of cattle) to entangle the horns mutually in fighting. Hence fig. U.S., to engage in combat with (some one).
1839Hist. Virgil A. Stewart 23 (Th.), They are enemies, and let them lock horns. 1855Knickerbocker XLVI. 95 As neither of the trains stop at way-stations, I expect nothing more than to see the two lock horns at the corner of my kitchen. 1865Swinburne Atalanta 942 Then shall the heifer and her mate lock horns. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. iii. lxx. 562 note, The Boss of Tammany, with whom Mr. Cleveland had at an earlier period in his career ‘locked horns’. 1901U.S. Corresp. in Academy 25 Mar. 240/2 We should hardly feel warranted in locking horns with Tammany Hall.
e. To embrace closely; also, to grapple in combat. Now only pass. lit. and fig.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. v. ii. 83 Shee..locks her in embracing, as if shee would pin her to her heart. 1646Evance Noble Ord. 15 The Devill thought to have lockt Job upon that hip. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxxii, Catharine..was locked in the arms of Louise. 1854M. Arnold Switzerland, Farew. 11 Lock'd in each other's arms we stood. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 252 Before the two armies became locked in the deadly combat now to be related. 1893Traill Social Eng. Introd. 35 The birth and early years of the nineteenth century found our country still locked in the death-grapple with Napoleon.
8. Mil. (See quot. 1802.) absol. and pass.
1802C. James Milit. Dict., To Lock up, to take the closest possible order in line or in file. The expression is derived from the lock-step. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 264 He is to take care that..the rear ranks..are well locked up. 1847Infantry Man. (1854) 56 He will see that the rear rank locks well up. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 11 In loading what precautions are necessary? To lock close up with the front rank to prevent accident.
9. Printing. (See quot.)
1820Scott Prose Wks. IV. Biographies II. (1870) 325 A leaf in the former [sc. a copy of Caxton's Book of Troy] was what is technically called locked. [Footnote] Such is the phrase when, by an error at press, the reverse has been printed on the side of the leaf which should have presented the obverse, so that page 32 precedes 31.
10. intr. Of a vehicle: To admit of the forewheels' passing askew under the body of the carriage. Said also of the wheel. (Cf. lock n.2 15.)
1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 328 To Lock, is a term used by Drivers in moving the fore wheels of a Waggon to and fro. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), To lock, among Drivers, to move the wheels of a Waggon to and fro. 1805Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 33 A very useful improvement..is that of leaving the space sufficiently deep in the bed of the waggon for the fore wheels to lock round in the shortest curve. 1851Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 260 When locking, the carriage draws the lever b from its recess. 1873R. Broughton Nancy III. 148 The road is narrow, and the coach will not lock. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 174 The front wheel..has to lock or turn under the arch.
11. Engineering and Navigation.
a. intr. To provide locks for the passage of vessels.
b. Of a canal: To pass by a lock into. Also of the vessel: To pass down, in, or out through a lock. Of persons: To pass out through an air-lock.
c. trans. To pass (a vessel) down, in, out or through by means of a lock.
d. intr. To take a boat into a lock.
e. trans. To furnish (a canal) with locks; to shut off (a portion of a river) by means of a lock.
a.1769in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 245 This Council will..lock down to the sea shore there at their own expence.
b.1795J. Phillips Hist. Inland Navig. Add. 168 The canal locks into the river at Beeston Meadow. 1840Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 121 They will have to lock in and out again. 1857–8Proc. Inst. Civ. Engin. XVII. 397 Two long levels of a canal locking from one into the other. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 364/2 There was less trouble in locking down at the various levels. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 41 Too rapid a reduction of the pressure in ‘locking out’, that is in passing from the caisson through the lock or ante-chamber in which the pressure should be gradually reduced.
c.1840Evid. Hull Docks Comm. 121 The small vessels..would have to be locked in and out. 1857–8Proc. Inst. Civ. Engin. XVII. 397 An up train [of boats], which had been locked through from the lower level. 1876Stevenson in Encycl. Brit. IV. 788/1 Vessels are locked down from the sea into the [North Holland] canal.
d.1857P. Colquhoun Comp. Oarsman's Guide 18 Care must be taken in locking with a barge to keep astern of her.
e.1892Pall Mall G. 24 Nov. 2/1 The portion of the river thus diverted would then be locked off.
12. to lock on to:
a. intr. Of radar or other equipment: to locate and then to track automatically; to accept as a target or reference object that is thereafter maintained as such (usu. automatically).
1949Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. May 439/2 The aerial system has been designed to ‘lock on’ to the responder signal and to ‘follow it’ during its motion through the atmosphere quite automatically and with great accuracy. 1964Discovery Oct. 7/3 The stabilized instrument platform has been developed..to lock on to the sun (or moon) within two minutes of lift-off. 1966New Scientist 25 Aug. 405 Stars were often mistaken for aircraft lights. In 27 cases pilots chasing a target aircraft had ‘locked on’ to a star for periods between one and ten minutes and actually tried to fly up to it. 1968Times 10 Dec. 6/7 The satellite was to have used six star trackers which would lock on to reference stars.
b. trans. To cause (a piece of equipment) to lock on to some object.
1954K. W. Gatland Devel. Guided Missile (ed. 2) iv. 118 After a short period, radar tracking and aiming devices are ‘locked on’ to target, and from then on the whole attack is automatic. 1964Guardian 1 Dec. 1/4 Their fourth attempt to ‘lock’ Mariner-4 on to the star Canopus. 1971Nature 8 Oct. 367/3 The flight took place aboard a skylark sounding rocket, which was stabilized and ‘locked on’ to the strong X-ray source Sco X-1 during the four minutes of observing time.
Sense 12 in Dict. becomes 13. Add: 12. Electronics. a. trans. To cause (an oscillator, etc.) to keep to a particular frequency, e.g. by driving it with a signal from an external source; to stabilize (an oscillator's frequency).
1933R. A. W. Watt et al. Applic. Cathode Ray Oscillograph i. 42 Use a linear time-base which is ‘locked’ in its rate of recurrence to that of the signal pulse. 1959K. Henney Radio Engin. Handbk. (ed. 5) xvi. 65 Any of the RC oscillators previously described is capable of being locked to a control frequency signal. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xiii. 42 It is often desirable to lock the oscillator frequency to an input reference. Usually this is done by injecting sufficient energy at the reference frequency into the oscillator circuit. 1990Sci. Amer. June 13/1 The frequency of the oscillator can be locked to an atomic standard.
b. intr. Of an oscillator, etc.: to become locked.
1943E. E. Zepler Technique Radio Design iv. 129 Locking occurs when a strong signal of approximately oscillator frequency is applied across the oscillator, forcing it to oscillate at this frequency. The tendency to lock is the larger the smaller the frequency difference. 1953F. Langford-Smith Radio-Designer's Handbk. (ed. 4) xxxvi. 1293 The locked oscillator circuit may produce severe distortion as the signal crosses the locking threshold in the side tuning positions, or stations may tune with a definite ‘plop’ as the oscillator locks. 1982Giant Bk. Electronics Projects vi. 260 Check to see that the synthesizer locks over the same frequency range. 1986Photographer May 26/2 This is not always possible with some recorders which lock to a particular channel when in record to prevent accidental changing.
▸ trans. orig. N. Amer.to lock down. a. In a prison: to confine (a prisoner) to a cell for an extended period of time; (also) to confine all of the prisoners of (a prison, cell block, etc.) in this way. Cf. lockdown n. 2a.
1983R. Morris Devil's Butcher Shop ii. 27 Prisoners under suspicion of planning a takeover were ‘locked down’ in maximum-security segregation. 1988D. M. Martin Gulag Mentality in D. M. Martin & P. Y. Sussman Committing Journalism (1993) ii. 109 A locked-down joint is easier to run. Look at Marion... It's been locked down seven years now. 2000F.E.D.S. Mag. 2 vi. 35/2, I was locked down 23 hours a day... Then they sent me to Leavenworth and it was much more open. 2006Evening Gaz. (Middlesbrough) (Nexis) 6 Dec. 2 A Teesside prison was locked down yesterday when suspicious items were found near its wall. More than 900 prisoners..were kept in their cells.
b. To contain, confine, or restrict access to, for security purposes. Cf. lockdown n. 2b.
1993D. Coyle Hardball iv. iii. 176 Many buildings, the Castle among them, were not locked down. 1996PC Week 5 Aug. 21/3 The software will lock down a contaminated file so the virus won't spread. 2004Daily Tel. 5 May 13/5 Organisers plan to ‘lock down’ all sites at the beginning of July, sweep them for bombs and then reopen them only for Olympic events.
▪ IV. † lock, v.2 Obs. or arch.
[ad. Du. lokken = G. locken.]
trans. To allure, entice. Also absol.
1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 110, I am no byrde to be locked ne take by chaf. 1562Turner Baths Pref., Flockinge byrdes..ceas not locking and calling, if they heare any of their kindes. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xv, 'Tis just like that old Lucy, to lock a poor maid into shame. |