locking
noun, verb
locking is spelled L-O-C-K-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, locking means “The use of a lock or a mutex to restrict access to a part of the code to at most one process” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of locking is lockings.
How many letters and syllables are in locking?
| Letters | 7: L-O-C-K-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.8 times per million words; the 10,196th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is locking?
Locking appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce locking?
Locking has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-locking.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of locking
- lockings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does locking mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 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.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of lock
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Locking in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act by which something is locked:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Locking |
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 locking come from?
From lock + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).