interlock

1. 1.

   a device that prevents an automotive engine from starting

   “car theives know how to bypass the ignition interlock”

   Synonymsignition interlock

   Broaderdevice
2. 2.

   the act of interlocking or meshing

   “an interlocking of arms by the police held the crowd in check”

   Synonymsmeshmeshinginterlocking

   Broadercatch

Other forms of interlock

plural

interlocks·

past tense

interlocked·

present participle

interlocking·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about interlock

What does interlock mean?

interlock means "coordinate in such a way that all parts work together effectively". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in interlock?

interlock has 3 syllables: in-ter-lock. The stress falls on "lock". In IPA it is /ˌɪntɚˈlɑk/.

What is another word for interlock?

Close synonyms include mesh, lock, interlace, lock, ignition interlock. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is interlock a common word?

interlock is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with interlock?

16 words rhyme with interlock. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.