padlock

[ pad-lok ]
See synonyms for: padlockpadlockedpadlocking on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a portable or detachable lock with a pivoted or sliding shackle that can be passed through a link, ring, staple, or the like.

verb (used with object)
  1. to fasten with or as with a padlock.

Origin of padlock

1
First recorded in 1425–75, padlock is from the late Middle English word padlok.See pod4, lock1

Other words from padlock

  • un·pad·locked, adjective

Words Nearby padlock

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use padlock in a sentence

  • One tent had a padlock on the front, a visible if not effective request for some privacy.

    Stimulus Dollars for Sex Offenders? | Gerald Posner | September 4, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • An hour later, with a nice, shiny new padlock, I went back to the composing-room.

    Nine Men in Time | Noel Miller Loomis
  • The light was switched off, and Bud heard the doors pulled shut, and the rattle of the padlock and chain.

    Cabin Fever | B. M. Bower
  • If he had been surprised at seeing the padlock, it was nothing to the burning indignation which now possessed him.

  • What was his astonishment at finding an enormous padlock and a heavy chain upon the door!

  • Still, they were so honest that a padlock, broken by mistake, was secretly replaced by a new one on the next day.

    The Story of the Thirteen Colonies | H. A. (Hlne Adeline) Guerber

British Dictionary definitions for padlock

padlock

/ (ˈpædˌlɒk) /


noun
  1. a detachable lock having a hinged or sliding shackle, which can be used to secure a door, lid, etc, by passing the shackle through rings or staples

verb
  1. (tr) to fasten with or as if with a padlock

Origin of padlock

1
C15 pad, of obscure origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012