lock down
verb
lock down is a verb meaning “To secure (something)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled L-O-C-K-D-O-W-N.
What does lock down mean?
verb
- 1
To secure (something).
- 2
To blockade and lock (e.g. a building or campus) so as to prevent ingress or egress; to make the occupants (of an area) stay locked indoors for their safety.
Police have the area locked down until the situation is all-clear.
- 3
To limit the use of (a computer network) to only users with permission.
- 4
To make (an arrangement) secure, definite, or permanent; to fix.
- 5
slangTo cause (another person) to enter into an exclusive romantic relationship.
It took me some time, but I finally locked her down.
- 6
To travel through a flight of locks on a waterway in a downhill direction.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of lockdown.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of lock down
- locks down present, singular, he/she/it
- locking down participle, present
- locked down participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Words people confuse with lock down
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: lockdown (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Lock down in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to secure; make people stay locked indoors for their safety:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lock down come from?
Deverbal from lock down.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).