1. [n]  any wrestling hold in which some part of the opponent's body is twisted or pressured
2. [n]  a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed
3. [n]  a restraint incorporated into the ignition switch to prevent the use of a vehicle by persons who do not have the key
4. [n]  enclosure consisting of a section of canal that can be closed to control the water level; used to raise or lower vessels that pass through it
5. [n]  a mechanism that detonates the charge of a gun
6. [n]  a strand or cluster of hair
7. [v]  become rigid or immoveable; of bones; "Don't lock your knees in this exercise"
8. [v]  place in a place where something cannot be removed or someone cannot escape; "The parents locked her daughter up for the weekend"; "She locked her jewels in the safe"
9. [v]  fasten with a lock; "lock the bike to the fence"
10. [v]  keep engaged; "engaged the gears"
11. [v]  become engaged or intermeshed with one another; "They were locked in embrace"
12. [v]  hold in a locking position; "He locked his hands around her neck"
13. [v]  build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels
14. [v]  hold fast (in a certain state); "He was locked in a laughing fit"
15. [v]  pass by means through a lock in a waterway

1. \Lock\, n. [AS. locc; akin to D. lok, G. locke, OHG. loc,
   Icel. lokkr, and perh. to Gr. ? to bend, twist.]
   A tuft of hair; a flock or small quantity of wool, hay, or
   other like substance; a tress or ringlet of hair.
         These gray locks, the pursuivants of death. --Shak.
   

2. \Lock\, n. [AS. loc inclosure, an inclosed place, the
   fastening of a door, fr. l[=u]can to lock, fasten; akin to
   OS. l[=u]kan (in comp.), D. luiken, OHG. l[=u]hhan, Icel.
   l?ka, Goth. l[=u]kan (in comp.); cf. Skr. ruj to break. Cf.
   {Locket}.]
   1. Anything that fastens; specifically, a fastening, as for a
      door, a lid, a trunk, a drawer, and the like, in which a
      bolt is moved by a key so as to hold or to release the
      thing fastened.
   2. A fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one
      thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable.
            Albemarle Street closed by a lock of carriages. --De
                                                  Quincey.
   3. A place from which egress is prevented, as by a lock.
      --Dryden.
   4. The barrier or works which confine the water of a stream
      or canal.
   5. An inclosure in a canal with gates at each end, used in
      raising or lowering boats as they pass from one level to
      another; -- called also {lift lock}.
   6. That part or apparatus of a firearm by which the charge is
      exploded; as, a matchlock, flintlock, percussion lock,
      etc.
   7. A device for keeping a wheel from turning.
   8. A grapple in wrestling. --Milton.
   {Detector lock}, a lock containing a contrivance for showing
      whether it as has been tampered with.
   {Lock bay} (Canals), the body of water in a lock chamber.
   {Lock chamber}, the inclosed space between the gates of a
      canal lock.
   {Lock nut}. See {Check nut}, under {Check}.
   {Lock plate}, a plate to which the mechanism of a gunlock is
      attached.
   {Lock rail} (Arch.), in ordinary paneled doors, the rail
      nearest the lock.
   {Lock rand} (Masonry), a range of bond stone. --Knight.
   {Mortise lock}, a door lock inserted in a mortise.
   {Rim lock}, a lock fastened to the face of a door, thus
      differing from a {mortise lock}.
   

3. \Lock\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Locked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Locking}.]
   1. To fasten with a lock, or as with a lock; to make fast; to
      prevent free movement of; as, to lock a door, a carriage
      wheel, a river, etc.
   2. To prevent ingress or access to, or exit from, by
      fastening the lock or locks of; -- often with up; as, to
      lock or lock up, a house, jail, room, trunk. etc.
   3. To fasten in or out, or to make secure by means of, or as
      with, locks; to confine, or to shut in or out -- often
      with up; as, to lock one's self in a room; to lock up the
      prisoners; to lock up one's silver; to lock intruders out
      of the house; to lock money into a vault; to lock a child
      in one's arms; to lock a secret in one's breast.
   4. To link together; to clasp closely; as, to lock arms. ``
      Lock hand in hand.'' --Shak.
   5. (Canals) To furnish with locks; also, to raise or lower (a
      boat) in a lock.
   6. (Fencing) To seize, as the sword arm of an antagonist, by
      turning the left arm around it, to disarm him.
   

4. \Lock\, v. i.
   To become fast, as by means of a lock or by interlacing; as,
   the door locks close.
         When it locked none might through it pass. --Spenser.
   {To lock into}, to fit or slide into; as, they lock into each
      other. --Boyle.
   

The Hebrews usually secured their doors by bars of wood or iron (Isa. 45:2; 1 Kings 4:3). These were the locks originally used, and were opened and shut by large keys applied through an opening in the outside (Judg. 3:24). (See KEY.)

Lock of hair (Judg. 16:13, 19; Ezek. 8:3; Num. 6:5, etc.).