Standard Lemma guide

locking

name · noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: L AA1 K IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A village on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare. Somerset, England

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

gerund of lock: the act by which something is locked.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The use of a lock or a mutex to restrict access to a part of the code to at most one process.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

verb

Meaning 5

present participle and gerund of lock

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the act of locking something up to protect it

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: lockup

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: protection

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *lewg-der. Proto-Germanic *luką Proto-West Germanic *lok Old English loc Middle English lok English lock Proto-Germanic *-ungō Old English -ung Middle English -ynge English -ing English locking From lock + -ing.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: lukitus — act by which something is locked
  • German: Locking — act by which something is locked
  • Swedish: låsning — act by which something is locked
  • Turkish: kilitleme — act by which something is locked
  • Hungarian: zárolás — the use of a lock to restrict access to a part of a code