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picklock

American  
[pik-lok] / ˈpɪkˌlɒk /

noun

  1. a person who picks a lock, especially a burglar.

  2. a thief.

  3. an instrument for picking a lock; lockpick.

picklock British  
/ ˈpɪkˌlɒk /

noun

  1. a person who picks locks, esp one who gains unlawful access to premises by this means

  2. an instrument for picking locks

"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

Etymology

Origin of picklock

First recorded in 1545–55; pick 1 + lock 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Der Spiegel's disclosure that an expert picklock from Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's federal intelligence service had helped in the break-in enhanced the impression of a "Watergate am Rhine."

From Time Magazine Archive

What is a picklock compared to a debenture share?

From Time Magazine Archive

The cockiest picklock in the U. S. last week signed a Europe-bound steamship's register: Charles Courtney, New York.

From Time Magazine Archive

I know them; I have the key, or the picklock to their minds.

From The Absentee by Edgeworth, Maria

The workman had not made any reply, and the sergeant spoke again as a large picklock was thrust into the keyhole again and again.

From Witness to the Deed by Fenn, George Manville

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.