lock

1. 1.

   a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed

   Broaderfastener

   Narrowercombination lockcylinder lockdoorlocklatchlever lockpadlocksash fastener

   Part ofgatedrawerdoorlid

   Partsboltkeyholetumbler
2. 2.

   a strand or cluster of hair

   Synonymscurlringletwhorl

   Broaderhair

   Narrowersausage curlforelockcrimpdreadlock

   Part ofhairdo
3. 3.

   a mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun

   Broadermechanism

   Part offirearm
4. 4.

   enclosure consisting of a section of canal that can be closed to control the water level; used to raise or lower vessels that pass through it

   Synonymslock chamber

   Broaderenclosure

   Part ofcanal
5. 5.

   a restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key

   Synonymsignition lock

   Broaderrestraint

   Part ofignition switch
6. 6.

   any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured

   Broaderwrestling hold

   Narrowerhammerlockheadlock

Other forms of lock

plural

locks·

past tense

locked·

present participle

locking·

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 lock

What does lock mean?

lock means "fasten with a lock". That is the primary sense; the word has 15 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in lock?

lock has 1 syllable: lock. In IPA it is /ˈlɑk/.

What is another word for lock?

Close synonyms include engage, mesh, operate, interlock, interlace. 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.

What is the opposite of lock?

The recorded antonyms are unlock, unlock.

Is lock a common word?

lock is banded "Core" — among the few thousand words that carry most english. 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 lock?

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