# lock

> English word · Noun · IPA /lɒk/ · frequency rank #2,954

## Definitions
1. Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.
2. A mutex or other token restricting access to a resource.
3. A segment of a canal or other navigable waterway enclosed by gates, used for raising and lowering boats between levels.
4. The firing mechanism.
5. Complete control over a situation.
6. Something sure to be a success.
7. Synonym of Dutch book.
8. A player in the scrum behind the front row, usually the tallest members of the team.
9. A fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable.
10. A place impossible to get out of, as by a lock.
11. A device for keeping a wheel from turning.
12. A grapple in wrestling.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **lot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lot)
- **low** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-low)
- **lol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lol)
- **los** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-los)
- **log** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-log)
- **Lou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lou)
- **loo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-loo)
- **Lon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lon)
- **lor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lor)
- **lop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lop)
- **Lod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lod)
- **lox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lox)
- **loy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-loy)
- **Luk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-luk)
- **Loh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-loh)
- **LSC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lsc)
- **love** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-love)
- **long** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-long)
- **look** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-look)
- **lost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lock-vs-lost)

## Common misspellings (6)
`lcok`, `llock`, `locck`, `lockk`, `lokc`, `olck`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lock