[From the name of the inventor, a London locksmith.] In full Chubb’s lock, Chubb-lock: a patent lock with tumblers and, in addition, a lever called a detector, which fixes the bolt immovably when one of the tumblers is raised a little too high in an attempt to pick the lock. So Chubb-key.
1833. Lardner, Manuf. Metal (Cabinet Cycl.), II. 272. Another celebrated invention, well known to the public as Chubb’s Detector lock.
1861. Sala, Seven Sons Mammon, xii. A tiny little Chubb, that might have opened a lady’s portfolio.
