locking

Name: locking, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“locking” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,231. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,231
frequency rank, English: 2,297
“L” headwords: 11
tracked misspellings: 19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - gerund of lock: the act by which something is locked.

Corpus desk

Index EN-locking · locking · English

locking · rank #10,231 · 11 variants · 19 confusables

FREQ-MID #10,231
LEN-LONG 7 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
VAR-MID 11 variants
BOOK-MID 2,297
PHOTO-FINISH logging

Nearest frequency peer: logging (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

insect

89,774
iris

89,773
issuing

89,772
locking

89,770
logging

89,769
Maurice

89,767

What this shows “locking” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

locking vs losing

71% similar

locking vs loving

71% similar

locking vs loring

71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for locking
Property	Value
Headword	locking
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
Letters	7
Frequency rank	#10,231
Misspellings tracked	11
Confusable pairs	19
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “locking”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).lockinglands here:

#10,231

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “logging” (#10,232), “issuing” (#10,229), “iris” (#10,228). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “locking” is #10,231. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around locking, anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,231 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for locking, with forms such as "lcoking", "llocking", and "loccking". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "losing", "loving", "loring", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From lock + -ing. The correct English form is locking, spelled L-O-C-K-I-N-G.

Definition

1
gerund of lock: the act by which something is locked.
2
The use of a lock or a mutex to restrict access to a part of the code to at most one process.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how locking appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

She had heard him, more than once, lock something up in one of the rooms—come out, and go into another room—wait there a few minutes—then return to the first room, with his keys in hand—and sharply turn the locks, and turn them again. […] [I]t was just as probable that these comings and goings, these lockings and unlockings, might be attributable to the e…

Etymology

From lock + -ing.

This word in other languages

Locking(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

lcoking
llocking
loccking
locikng
lockign
lockingg
lockinng
lockking
locknig
lokcing
olcking

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of locking - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "locking"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "locking"?

"locking" is spelled L-O-C-K-I-N-G.

What does "locking" mean?

As a noun, "locking" means: gerund of lock: the act by which something is locked.

What words are commonly confused with "locking"?

"locking" is commonly confused with "losing", "loving", "loring". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

What is the origin of the word "locking"?

From lock + -ing. See the full etymology section above for more details.

Is PlainSpell free to use?

Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "locking", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

logging#10,232 issuing#10,229 Maurice#10,234 infants#10,226

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Gardner11 variants Patricia11 variants formats11 variants dementia11 variants