Forms: 1–4 loc, 4–6 lok, loke, 4–5 lokk(e, 4–7 locke, 3– lock. [OE. loc neut. corresponds to OFris. lok lock, OS. lok hole, OHG. loh (MHG., mod.G. loch) hole, ON. lok lid, also end, conclusion (Sw. lock, Da. laag lid):—OTeut. *lokom, *lukom, f. *luk-, wk.-grade of the root *lŭk- (: leuk- : louk-) to close, enclose (see LOUK v.). OE. had also from the same root loca wk. masc. (cf. ON. loka wk. fem., lock or latch, MDu. lōke enclosure): see LOKE.
The great diversity of meanings in the Teut. words seems to indicate two or more independent but formally identical substantival formations from the root.]
I. A contrivance for fastening.
1. An appliance for fastening a door, lid, etc., consisting of a bolt (or system of bolts) with mechanism by which it can be propelled and withdrawn by means of a key or similar instrument. (In OE. app. used with wider meaning, applied, e.g., to a bar, bolt, latch, or the like.)
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., I. i. (Schipper), 9. Mid þam æðelestum ceastrum … ða þe wæron mid … ʓeatum and þam trumestum locum ʓetimbrade.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 572. Godes engel undyde ða locu ðæs cwearternes.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 127. Þet is þet loc þeðe deofel ne con unlucan.
a. 1300–40. Cursor M., 17357 (Gött.). Þai … vndid þair lock all wid þe kay.
c. 1315. Shoreham, I. 2146. Seynt Iohan … seȝ a bok was fast ischet Wyþ strong[e] lokes seuene.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. VII. 266. Ich … pryuyliche hus pors shok, vnpiked hus lokes.
a. 1420. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 1098. Necessarie vnto him is it Barres and lokkes stronge for to haue.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lv. 13. Thai brak vp durris, and raeff vp lockis.
1536. Reg. Riches, in Antiq. Sarisb. (1771), 195. Gemmels and locks of silver, containing the Coronation of our Lady.
1562. Child-Marriages, 131. To pull out the nayles of the hindges, and open hit [a chest] on the other side, contrary to the locke.
1611. Bible, Song Sol. v. 5. My hands dropped with myrrhe … vpon the handles of the locke.
a. 1625. Beaum. & Fl., Noble Gent., V. i. A strange locke that opens with Amen.
1796. H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1797), 311. See under how many locks and doors these metals are secured.
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 263. Early fame of Wolverhampton locks.
1889. G. Findlay, Eng. Railway, 94. The Electric lock has been designed to lock and unlock sidings at a distance from the signal box.
transf. and fig. 1340. Ayenb., 255. Do to þine mouþe a dore and a loc.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. II. 198. And þat is þe lok of loue þat vn-loseþ grace.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 132. The locke of good aduysement shall be set on our lyppes.
1725. Ramsay, Gentle Sheph., III. iv. Obedience to your strict command Was the first lock.
1831. Carlyle, Sart. Res., II. vi. I kept a lock upon my lips.
¶ App. explained to mean: A wicket or hatch (or perh. a leaf of a door or casement). Cf. LOUK sb.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 311/1. Loke, sperynge of a dore or wyndow, valva. [See Way’s note s.v.]
b. Phrases. Lock and key (rarely † key and lock) occurs freq. as a phraseological combination in the literal sense or as a typical expression for appliances for fastening or securing; rarely attrib. Under lock and key, formerly also † under (a) lock (cf. KEY sb. 1 b): securely locked up; also fig. So under lock and seal, † under lock and hasp, etc.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 1557. He hire bi-lukþ myd keye and loke.
a. 1300–1400. Cursor M., 14711 (Gött.). Ioseph … ȝe lokid vnder lock and sele.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xx. 89. Þare es na thing vnder lokk, and als riche es a man as anoþer.
1413. Hoccleve, Min. Poems (1892), 48. He, of thy soules helthe, is lok and keye.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls), I. 373. Kepenge hit with grete diligence vnder a locke.
c. 1485. Digby Myst. (1882), I. 389. God, that art both lok and keye of all goodnesse.
1522. Bury Wills (Camden), 116. A rownde tabyll of waynskott wt lok and key.
c. 1570. Marr. Wit & Sci., II. i. B ij. Althinges must be kept vnder locke and haspe.
1585. T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy., IV. xxxi. 154. With great care [they] kept their wyves so closely under lock and key.
1635. J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Banish’d Virg., 105. The foremost [room] whereof was assured with a good lock and key.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 62. Under lock and key, in the … store room.
1899. Mary Cholmondeley, Red Pottage, 224. She has a lock-and-key face.
c. Locks-and-keys (dial.): see quots.
1837. J. F. Palmer, Devon. Gloss., Locks-and-keys, the seed-pods of the ash and sycamore.
1847. Halliwell, Locks-and-keys. Ash-keys. West.
2. ‘A cotter or key; as the one which fastens the cap-square over the trunnion of a mounted cannon; a forelock’ (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1875).
† 3. A hobble or shackle on a horse’s (or other animal’s) foot to prevent it from straying. Also HORSE-LOCK. Obs.
[1486. etc.: see HORSE-LOCK.]
1528. Lyndesay, Dreme, 894. Quho wyll go sers amang sic heirdis scheip, May, habyll, fynd mony pure scabbit crok, And goyng wyll at large, withouttin lok.
1539. MS. Acc. St. John’s Hosp., Canterb., Payd for a lock for the mare.
1610. Markham, Masterp., II. lxxxiv. 364. If a horse be galled in the pastorne, on the heele, or vpon the cronet, either with shackell or locke.
1695. Lond. Gaz., No. 3065/4. Stolen or Stray’d…, a Roan … Gelding,… with a Lock on his Foot.
transf. 1589. Hakluyt, Voy., 151. Till at the last, God sent him [John Fox] fauour in the sight of the keeper of the prison, so that he had leaue to goe in and out … wearing a locke about his legge.
4. A contrivance to keep a wheel from revolving, or from turning to right or left. (Cf. lock-chain.)
1884. J. G. Bourke, Snake-Dance Moquis, i. 8. There was no brake, no lock, no shoe to the wheels.
1898. Cycling, 37. Steering Locks are valuable … for preventing the machine from moving when resting against a wall.
5. In fire-arms, the piece of mechanism by means of which the charge is exploded. (See also FIRELOCK, FLINT-LOOK, MATCHLOCK.) Phr. lock, stock and barrel = the entirety of anything.
[Appears first in the comb. FIRELOCK. Prob. the name is due to some resemblance of the mechanism of the original wheel firelock to that of a lock (sense 1). Cf. G. schloss, used both for the ‘lock’ of a door and the ‘lock’ of a gun.]
1547, etc. [see FIRELOCK 1].
1681. Grew, Musæum, 366. Under the Breech of the Barrel is one Box for the Powder. A little before the Lock, another for the Bullets; Behind the Cock, a Charger, which carries the Powder to the further end of the Lock.
1725. Lond. Gaz., No. 6390/2. They broke some of the Locks of their Pieces.
1820. Portland Gaz., 17 Oct., 2/2. George the fourth should abandon London, Westminster Abbey, and his royal throne and palace, lock, stock and barrel, and retire to his dominions in the East Indies.
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 90. The priming was laid in the hollow at the side of the lock.
1839. Marryat, Phant. Ship, iv. I’ll put a new flint in my lock.
1897. R. Kipling, Light that Failed, v. The whole thing, lock, stock, and barrel, isn’t worth one big yellow sea-poppy.
6. Short for ROW-LOCK.
1850. Scoresby, Cheever’s Whalem. Adv., xii. (1859), 178. I had placed my left hand and weight against the oar. Instantly laying hold of his own in like manner, his first effort broke it short at the lock.
II. A barrier, an enclosure. [Cf. OE. gáta loc pen for goats.]
† 7. A barrier on a river, constructed so as to be opened or closed at pleasure. (See quots. 1758, 1793) Obs.
c. 1300[?]. Rolls of Parlt., I. 475. Il sont desturbeez par Gortz, par Lokes, & par Molins. Ibid. (1472–5), VI. 159/1. Milles, Mille dammes, Mille pooles, Lokkes,… and dyvers other ympedymentes.
1531–2. Act 23 Hen. VIII., c. 5 § 1. Weares … gores gootes fludgates lockes.
1576. in W. H. Turner, Select. Rec. Oxford, 387. A lock called Rewley lock is to be repayred.
1613–6. W. Browne, Brit. Past., I. ii. Wks. 1772, I. 47. Let no man dare To spoile thy fish, make locke or ware.
1677. Plot, Oxfordsh., 233. Provided the fall of water be not great, a Lock will suffice, which is made up only of bars of wood called Rimers, set perpendicularly to the bottom of the passage.
1758. Binnell, Descr. Thames, 158. The Use of Locks was happily invented, which are a Kind of wooden Machines, placed quite a-cross the River, and so contrived, as totally to obstruct the Current of the Stream, and dam up the Water.
† 8. The passage or waterway between the piers of a bridge. Obs.
1545. in W. H. Turner, Select. Rec. Oxford, 177. A certen lokk … called Ruly myddell lokk shall be stopped upp.
1685. Lond. Gaz., No. 2062/4. Vessels … too large to pass through any other Lock of the said Bridge. Ibid. (1705), No. 4121/4. The Lock belonging to London-Bridge, commonly called the Draw-Bridge-Lock, will be barrocaded up.
1813. T. Faulkner, Fulham, 6. The largest opening for the passage of vessels is in the middle,… and is called Walpole’s Lock.
9. On a canal or river: A portion of the channel shut off above and below by folding gates provided with sluices to let the water out or in, and thus raise or lower boats from one water level to another.
1577. W. Vallans, Tale two Swannes, in Leland’s Itin. (1759), V. p. xiii. This locke containes two double doores of wood, Within the same a Cesterne all of Plancke, Which only fills when boates come there to passe.
1677. Yarranton, Eng. Improv., 154. Building two great Stone Locks or Sluces to let down and bring up the Ships.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., VI. 51. O be content, where heav’n can give no more! More, like a flash of water from a lock, Quickens our spirit’s movement for an hour.
1794. S. Williams, Vermont, 34. Except the falls, which the states are now making navigable by locks.
a. 1817. T. Dwight, Trav. New Eng., etc. (1821), II. 94. The whole number of locks, including a guard lock, is seven.
1831. Lardner, Hydrost., iv. 67. The surface of the water in the lock is thus slowly elevated raising the vessel with it.
1866. M. Arnold, Thyrsis, xiii. Where is the girl, who by the boatman’s door, Above the locks … Unmoor’d our skiff?
b. The quantity of water which fills a lock.
1791. W. Jessop, Rep. River Witham, 7. The Trade on the Navigation … will take two Locks of water.
† c. A ‘lift’ on a railway, for raising and lowering vehicles from one level to another. Obs.
a. 1824. Dickson, in Trans. Highland Soc., VI. 115. The plans for the locks may be divided into two, one for water, condensed air or steam; one for animal power, wind [etc.].
1825. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 659. Where locks or lifts occur [on a railway], the stationary steam-engine should drag up the vehicle … not simply from the one level to the other, but to a platform some feet above the higher level.
d. Short for lock-keeper.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., III. viii. ‘I am the Lock,’ said the man. ‘The Lock?’ ‘I am the Deputy Lock on job, and this is the Lock-house.’
10. Engineering. An ante-chamber giving access to a chamber in which work is carried on in compressed air. More fully air-lock.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., I. 49. Air-lock. Ibid., 421, s.v. Caisson.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 16 Oct., 3/1. Entrance is obtained by means of a couple of ‘locks,’ tubular chambers about 6ft. in diameter.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VII. 41. Perhaps the most frequent exciting cause [of caisson disease] is too rapid a reduction of the pressure in ‘locking out,’ that is, in passing from the caisson to the open air through the lock or ante-chamber.
III. Senses derived from LOCK v.1
11. A locking together, interlocking; † an unintelligible or ambiguous discourse (obs.); an assemblage of objects jammed together, now esp. a crowd of carriages in the streets, a ‘block,’ ‘jam.’
1550. Gardiner, in Foxe, A. & M. (1563), 759/1. The worst man of all is that will make him self a locke of wordes and speach, which is knowen not to be my faction,… and how can that be a doubtfull speach in him that professeth to agree with the kinges lawes,… which I did expresly.
1697. Dryden, Æneid, V. 265. Sergesthus, eager with his Beak, to press Betwixt the Rival Galley and the Rock, Shuts up th’ unwieldy Centaur in the Lock.
1834. De Quincey, in Tait’s Mag., I. 594. I have seen all Albemarle Street closed by a ‘lock’ of carriages.
1854. Thackeray, Newcomes, I. 231. Stopped on the road from Epsom in a lock of carriages.
1857. Abridg. Specif. Patents Sewing, etc. 17. The stitch produced is termed the ‘chain stitch,’ the two threads having a double lock with each other.
† 12. A grapple, grip or trick in wrestling (cf. quot. 1899); hence fig. (a) a stratagem, trick, dodge; (b) a difficulty, dilemma, chiefly in phr. (to be, have, put) at, on, or upon a (the) lock. Obs. (Cf. DEADLOCK.)
1608. Dekker, 2nd Pt. Honest Whore (1630), G 3 b. He and foure of his men drew vpon me, sir … I made no more adoe, but fell to my old locke, and so thrashed my blue Coates, [etc.].
1616. J. Lane, Contn. Sqr.’s T. (Chaucer Soc.), 129, note. Both closelie graplinge with a mutual locke.
1644. Milton, Educ., 7. They must be also practiz’d in all the locks and gripes of wrastling.
1646. Fuller, Wounded Consc. (1841), 321. If the devil catches us at this lock, he will throw us flat.
1650. Cromwell, in Carlyle, Lett. & Sp. (1871), III. 40. Being indeed upon this lock, hoping that the disease of your army would render their work more easy. Ibid. (1651), Lett., 26 July. The Enemy is at his old lock.
1657. R. Ligon, Barbadoes (1673), 41. At that lock they often were, and some good Planters too, that far’d very hard.
1663. Cowley, Cutter Coleman-St., IV. iv. Why look you, Colonel, he’s at’s old Lock, he’s at’s May-bees again.
1672. Marvell, Reh. Transp., I. 159. This, beside all the lock and advantage that I have the Nonconformists upon since the late times. Ibid., 216. Now the Author having got them at this lock cries Victory.
1699. R. L’Estrange, Erasm. Colloq. (1711), 225. He was now upon the same lock with Balbinus.
1723. Wodrow, Corr. (1843), III. 39. My inclination is … that you keep the books to yourself rather than put the Colonel upon the lock.
1744. P. Whitehead, Gymnasiad, III. 42, note. The youthful Hero, being on the Lock, must again inevitably have come to the Ground.
1825. J. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, I. 256. A few heavy tumbles were given without a trip or a lock.
1899. Cumbld. Gloss., Lock, a term in wrestling, used when the left (right) leg is passed between the opponent’s legs, and then twisted round his right (left) leg by a motion which is first backward, then outward, and finally forward.
b. slang. (See quots.)
1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v., He stood a queer Lock; i. e. He stood an indifferent Chance.
1735. in Dyche & Pardon, Dict.
c. 1780. G. Parker, Life’s Painter, 116. What lock do you cut now? [explained to mean ‘by what way do you get your livelihood now?’ Ibid., 137].
1785. in Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
13. (To walk) lock and lock = arm in arm.
1837. Haliburton, Clockm., Ser. I. xxiii. She don’t wait any more for him to walk lock and lock with her.
14. The occupation of locking (prison-cells). On the lock: engaged in locking up.
1855. Dickens, Dorrit, II. xix. Will you go and see if Bob is on the lock?
15. The swerving (to right or left) of the wheels of the fore-carriage of a vehicle from the line of direction of the hind-wheels. (Cf. LOCK v.1 3.)
1851. Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib., 366. New application … to a caravan, or waggon,… to allow a higher fore wheel, and give a greater amount of lock.
1875. in Knight, Dict. Mech.
16. Plastering. (See quot.)
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., Lock (Plastering), the projection of the plaster or cement behind the lath, which keeps it from falling or scaling off.
17. Thieves’ slang. (App. short for lock-all-fast: see first quot.) A receiver of stolen goods; also, a house where stolen goods are received.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, Lock all fast, one that Buys and Conceals Stolen Goods. The Lock, the Magazine or Warehouse whither the Thieves carry Stolen Goods.
1718. C. Higgin, True Discov., 16 (Farmer). That woman they spoke to as they passed by is a Lock, alias Receiver and Buyer of stolen goods.
1727. Gay, Begg. Op., I. ii. Betty hath brought more goods into our Lock to-year than any five of the Gang.
1804. Europ. Mag., XLV. 365/1. We lament that this ancient palace of the Kings of France should become a Lock, (which … means a repository for stolen goods).
IV. 18. (More fully Lock-hospital.) A hospital for the treatment of venereal diseases. (Now usually with capital L.)
The ‘Lock lazar-house’ in Southwark, which is mentioned as having received a bequest in 1452, was afterwards employed as a hospital for venereal diseases, and its name came to be used as a general designation for institutions of that kind. The origin of the name is uncertain; it has been conjectured that the ‘Lock lazar-house’ was so called as being specially isolated or quarantined.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, The Lock,… an Hospital for Pockey Folks in Kent-street.
1720. Becket, in Phil. Trans., XXXI. 60. The Lock beyond St. Georges Church, and that at Kingsland, are at this time applyed to no other use than for the entertainment and Cure of such as have the Venereal Malady.
1753. Smollett, Ct. Fathom (1784), 157/1. To erect an hospital, lock, or infirmary, by the voluntary subscription of his friends.
1755. Fleming, in Phil. Trans., XLIX. 263, note. Mr. John Clark, now surgeon to the Lock-Hospital, near Hyde-Park Corner.
1766. Entick, London, IV. 444. There is a lock hospital for venereal complaints.
1869. E. A. Parkes, Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3), 501. Certified Lock Hospitals are provided for her treatment.
V. attrib. and Comb.
19. a. simple attributive, as (sense 1) lock-bolt, -staple; (sense 5) lock-action, -cover, -lanyard, -plate, -side, -stop, -string; (sense 9) lock-bank, -duty, -gate, -hatch, -house, -man, -side. b. signifying ‘provided with a lock or locks,’ as (sense 1) † lock-chest, † -cock, (U.S.), † -house; (sense 9) lock-weir.
1898. R. Kipling, in Morn. Post, 7 Nov., 5/1. A Maxim [gun] making sure of its *lock-action.
1773. Ann. Reg., 66. Upwards of 600 … workmen were entertained upon the *lock-banks with an ox roasted whole.
1552. Inventories (Surtees), 11. ij *lokchestes.
1814. Sporting Mag., XLIII. 112. Beer … which stood in a corner of his front parlour, with a *lock-cock to it.
1833. Regul. Instr. Cavalry, I. 103. Unstrap the Carbine; take off the *lock-cover.
1776. Adam Smith, W. N., V. i. (1869), II. 308. The toll or *lock-duty upon a canal.
1677. Plot, Oxfordsh., 233. *Lock-gates put down between every two of them.
1795. J. Phillips, Hist. Inland Navig., 338. The most effectual … method of providing lock-gates.
1710. Brit. Apollo, III. No. 70. 2/1. Whether tame Rabbits may not be as Good … as the Wild … provided they are kept in a *Lock-house, having the advantage of [etc.].
1865. [see 9 d].
1890. Century Dict., s.v. Lanyard, A *lock-lanyard is the cord fastened to the lock of a gun by which the gun is fired.
1887. Times, 14 Oct., 3/4. W. Robinson, *lockman at the South West India Dock, was summoned for assaulting George John Holleby.
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 11. On the stock is a … *lock plate.
1860. All Year Round, No. 71. 500. The stock is divided into the … *lock-side [etc.].
1897. Daily News, 30 July, 5/2. At Molesey only a limited number of people are admitted to the lock-side.
1898. Athenæum, 7 May, 594/3. The place where the *lock-staple had once been fitted.
1883. Ld. Saltoun, Scraps, I. 280. The rifle was loaded and capped, but secured by the *lock-stops.
1885. Century Mag., XXIX. 758. I triced up the port, ran out the gun, and, taking deliberate aim, pulled the *lockstring.
1831. T. L. Peacock, Crotchet Castle, iv. 67. Mud, filth, gas-dregs, *lock-weirs … have ruined the fishery.
c. objective, as (sense 1) lock-filer, -maker, -picker; lock-making; (sense 9) lock-keeper, -owner, -shutter, -tender.
1858. Greener, Gunnery, 213. They have … obtained a much better price than any other *lock-filers out of London.
1794. Rennie, Rep. Thames Navig., 53. Examination … of the *Lock-keeper’s books.
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., ii. (1889), 12. The lock-keeper again came to the rescue with his boat-hook.
1797. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3), X. 111/2. It is still possible for a mechanic of equal skill with the *lock-maker to open it without the key.
1850. Chubb, Locks & Keys, 16. The lock-makers of England.
1787. Bramah, Locks, 6. The art of *Lock-making.
1882. W. Morris, in Mackail, Life (1899), II. 68. Am I doing nothing but make-believe then, something like Louis XVI.’s lock-making?
1731. in Extracts from Navig. Rolls, 23. Unless Notice hath been … given to the said *Lock-owners.
1882. Stevenson, Fam. Stud. (1901), 151. Thieves, cheats and *lockpickers.
1751. in Extracts from Navig. Rolls, 13. To the *Lock-shutter 6d.
1788. Act 28 Geo. III., c. 51 § 18. Bargemen, Watermen, Lock-Shutters.
1877. Burroughs, Taxation, I. 37. Gardens occupied by *lock-tenders … were exempt.
20. Special comb. (in some cases perhaps combinations with the vb. stem): lock-band, -bay (see quots.); lock-chain, a chain employed to lock the wheels of a vehicle; lock-chamber, the space enclosed between the side-walls and gates of a lock; lock-hole, † (a) a keyhole; (b) ‘the recess in a musket-stock to receive the lock’ (Knight); lock-net (see quot.); lock-nut, a nut screwed down upon another to prevent its breaking loose, a check-nut; lock-paddle (see quot.); lock-pen = lock-chamber; lock-piece, (a) ‘in guns of the old construction, a lug cast just alongside of the vent for the attachment of the lock’ (Knight); (see quot. 1860); † lock-pit, ? = sense 9; lock-pool, ? = LASHER 4 b; lock-pulley, two pulleys formed to rotate separately, or together, at will (Knight); lock-rail (see quot. 1842); lock-saw, a long tapering saw, used to cut the seat for a lock in a door; lock-seat, the excavation on a river or canal intended to contain a lock; † lock-shoe, -sill (see quots.); lock-spring, the spring by means of which the case of a watch is opened or closed; lock-step Mil. (see quot.) hence lock-step adv. and vb.; lock-stitch, a sewing-machine stitch, in which two threads are locked firmly together; also attrib.; lock-timber Mining (see quot.); lock-tool = lock-cramp; lock-work, (a) the manufacture or construction of locks (senses 1 and 9); (b) the parts of a lock; (c) a series of locks (sense 9); (d) pl. a factory for the manufacture of locks (sense 1); (e) pl. operations in progress for the construction of locks (sense 9).
c. 1582[?]. Digges, in Archæologia (1794), XI. 233. The hewinge of the stone ashlar, and Endstons, with artyficiall bevelinge, and *lockbands, one within another, will amounte … for the rodde 16s. 6d.
1847. Halliwell, Lock-bands, binding stones in masonry.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Lock-bay, the pond or space of water between the gates of a canal-lock.
1859. Marcy, Prairie Trav., iii. 93. If there are no *lock-chains upon wagons, the front and rear wheels on the same side may be tied together with ropes so as to lock them very firmly.
1861. Smiles, Engineers, I. 375. *Lock chamber.
1592. Greene, Philom., E 4 b. The Earle … peeping in at the *locke hole, saw them two standing … hand in hand.
1752. J. Louthian, Form of Process (ed. 2), 87. Within the Lock-hole of the most patent Door of his Dwelling-house.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., I. 7. The mistic tribes of night’s unnerving breeze, That through a lock-hole even creep with ease.
1863. Buckland, Curios. Nat. Hist., Ser. II. (ed. 4), 251. The *‘lock nets’ … are simply a large form of the round nets used to catch freshwater crayfish.
a. 1864. Gesner, Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865), 79. Leakage around the pipe [is] prevented by two *locknuts.
1887. D. A. Low, Machine Drawing, 20. In practice, the thin nut, called the lock-nut, is often placed on the outside.
1842. Francis, Dict. Arts, *Lock Paddles, the small sluices used in filling and emptying locks.
1891. A. J. Foster, Ouse, 170. Most of the *lock-pens will only hold two lighters at a time.
1860. Eng. & For. Mining Gloss. (Cornwall Terms), *Lock piece, a piece of timber used in supporting the workings.
1802. Hull Dock Act, 1503. With a *lock-pit or entrance into the same from the said river Humber.
1772. Extracts from Navig. Rolls, Remarks p. ix. A strong Breast-work of Piles on the upper Side of the *Lock-pool.
1881. Taunt, Thames Map, p. xv/1. Caution should always be used when in a weir or lock-pool.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 589. On the *lock-rail the lock is either mortised in, or screwed on.
1842–59. Gwilt, Archit., 568. The next are called the lock or middle rails in doors.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. 365/1. A *Lock Saw … to make Key holes in Doors.
1794. Washington, Lett., Writ. 1892, XIII. 1. Mr. Weston’s opinion, respecting the *lock-seats at the Great Falls of that river.
1785. G. Forster, trans. Sparrman’s Voy. Cape G. Hope (1786), I. 124. In order that the wheel that is to be locked may not be worn,… a kind of sledge carriage, hollowed out on the inside, and called a *lock-shoe is fitted to it.
1842. Francis, Dict. Arts, *Lock-sills, the angular pieces of timber at the bottom of the lock against which the gates shut.
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 47. The *lock spring fits in a groove formed in the band of the case.
1802. C. James, Milit. Dict., *Lock-step, this step consists in the heel of one man being brought nearly in contact with the joint of the great toe of another.
1816. J. Scott, Vis. Paris (ed. 5), 55. The men who are now practising the lock-step in front of the window of Louis XVIII.
1828. Examiner, 630/1. A Sailor toe-and-heels it, and lock-steps and straddles.
1866. Thoreau, Yankee in Canada, ii. 25. I observed one older man … marching lock-step with the rest.
1869. J. Webster, in Eng. Mech., 17 Dec., 326/3. I do not say one word against *lock-stitch machines.
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., *Lock-timber, an old plan of putting in stull-pieces in Cornwall and Devon. The pieces were called lock-pieces.
1686. Plot, Staffordsh., 376. So curious are they in *Lockwork (indeed beyond all preference).
1794. W. Combe, Boydell’s Thames, I. 47. A successive apparatus of lock-work, to remedy the various levels of the country.
1857–8. Proc. Inst. Civ. Engin. (1858), XVII. 389. The construction of the gates was entirely independent of the lock-work.
1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 7 Jan., 2/3. The bright steel and very elaborate lock-work was perfect.
1899. Daily News, 14 Oct., 6/7. The new lock and safe works recently erected … by Messrs. Chubb and Sons.
1901. A. Haultain, in 19th Cent., L. Oct., 550. One finds here … bridge works, lock works.
