lock
/lɑk/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.51 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A mutex or other token restricting access to a resource.
noun
A segment of a canal or other navigable waterway enclosed by gates, used for raising and lowering boats between levels.
noun
The firing mechanism in a gun.
noun
Synonym of Dutch book.
Example Sentences
- ""Give me the key," said my mother; and though the lock was very stiff, she had turned it and thrown back the lid in a twinkling."
- "We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 'Twas locked, of course, but the Deacon man got a big bunch of keys out of his pocket and commenced to putter with the lock."
- "[T]he application must first acquire a lock on a file or a portion of a file before reading data and modifying it."
- "Here the canal came to a check, ending abruptly with a large lock."
- ""I never saw such a gun in my life," replied poor Winkle, looking at the lock, as if that would do any good."
- "Even though he had not yet done so, Jack felt he had a lock on the game."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lewg-der. Proto-Germanic *luką Proto-West Germanic *lok Old English loc Middle English lok English lock From Middle English lok, from Old English loc, from Proto-West Germanic *lok, from Proto-Germanic *luką from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend; turn”). Cognate with Cimbrian loch, lòch (“hole”), Dutch lok (“hole”), German Loch (“hole”), German Low German Lock (“hole”), Luxembourgish Lach (“hole”), Vilamovian łöch (“hole”), Yiddish לאָך (lokh, “hole”), Danish låg (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Bokmål lokk (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Nynorsk lok, lokk (“lid, cover”). more detail The verb is from Middle English locken, lokken, louken, from Old English lūcan, Proto-West Germanic *lūkan, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną. Cognate with Dutch luiken (“to close, to shut”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål lukke (“to close, to shut”), Faroese lúka (“to end, to finish”), Icelandic ljúka (“to close, to shut”), Norwegian Nynorsk lukka (“to close, to shut”). Related to luxe via Latin.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /lɑk/
- British English: /lɒk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
Homonyms
Locke
(Anglicised) loch
lough
lakh (one pronunciation)
lark (non-rhotic)
lawk (cot–caught merger)
loch
lakh