# lockout

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #24,499

## Definitions
1. The opposite of a strike; a labor disruption where management refuses to allow workers into a plant to work even if they are willing.
2. The action of installing a lock to keep someone out of an area, such as eviction of a tenant by changing the lock.
3. The exclusion of certain people from a place, event, situation, etc.
4. The restriction of a population to a certain area, but allowing free movement within that region, in order to prevent the spread of disease. Compare lockdown.
5. The situation of being locked out of a building.
6. A situation where the system is not responding to input.
7. A safety device designed to prevent touching a moving part when it is under operation; a safety device to keep the power supply turned off during repairs; the standardized practice and method whereby such devices are deployed.
8. The final portion of a weightlifting motion where all applicable limbs or joints are fully extended or "locked out".
9. An exercise meant to increase strength in the lockout portion of a lifting motion.
10. A form of vote splitting in a two-round voting system which a large number of candidates with similar politics prevent each other from advancing to the second round, allowing a pair of opposition candidates to face each other in the runoff.

## Etymology
Deverbal from lock out.

## Easily confused with
- **lockup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lockout-vs-lockup)
- **lookout** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lockout-vs-lookout)
- **locket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/locket-vs-lockout)
- **Lockett** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lockett-vs-lockout)

## Common misspellings (10)
`lcokout`, `llockout`, `locckout`, `lockkout`, `lockotu`, `lockoutt`, `lockuot`, `locokut`, `lokcout`, `olckout`

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