LOCK

I. noun Etymology: Middle English lok, from Old English locc; akin to Old High German loc ~, Greek lygos withe, Latin luxus dislocated Date: before 12th century 1. a tuft, tress, or ringlet of hair, the hair of the head, a cohering bunch (as of wool, cotton, or flax) ; tuft , dread~ 2, II. noun Etymology: Middle English lok, from Old English loc; akin to Old High German loh enclosure and perhaps to Old English locc ~ of hair Date: before 12th century 1. a fastening (as for a door) operated by a key or a combination, the mechanism for exploding the charge or cartridge of a firearm, 2. an enclosure (as in a canal) with gates at each end used in raising or lowering boats as they pass from level to level, air ~ , 3. a ~ing or fastening together, an intricate mass of objects impeding each other (as in a traffic jam), a hold in wrestling secured on one part of the body, one that is assured of success or favorable outcome, III. verb Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to fasten the ~ of, to make fast with or as if with a ~ , 2. to fasten in or out or to make secure or inaccessible by or as if by means of ~s , to fix in a particular situation or method of operation , 3. to make fast, motionless, or inflexible especially by the interlacing or inter~ing of parts , to hold in a close embrace, to grapple in combat, to invest (capital) without assurance of easy convertibility into money, to move or permit to pass (as a ship) by raising or lowering in a ~, intransitive verb 1. to become ~ed, to be capable of being ~ed, interlace , inter~ , to go or pass by means of a ~ (as in a canal), ~able adjective