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• air lock
  air lock

  noun

  an airtight chamber permitting passage to or from a space, as in a caisson, in which the air is kept under pressure.
• air-lock
  air-lock

  verb (used with object)

  to place in or confine to an air lock.

air lock

¹ American  

noun

1. Civil Engineering. an airtight chamber permitting passage to or from a space, as in a caisson, in which the air is kept under pressure.

2. the impedance in the functioning of a pump or a system of piping caused by the presence of an air bubble; vapor lock.

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air-lock ² American  

[air-lok] / ˈɛərˌlɒk /

verb (used with object)

1. to place in or confine to an air lock.

   to air-lock divers before they descend.

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Etymology

Origin of air lock¹

First recorded in 1855–60

Origin of air-lock²

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

air lock air-lock

Customers still experiencing ongoing problems as isolated issues were likely to be affected by an air lock, SWW said, and those affected should contact it.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2025

Do you need to wash everything, wear gloves, and/or create a makeshift air lock where the Instacart delivery person can drop your bags?

From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2020

When he attempted to reenter the air lock leading to the space capsule, Mr. Leonov could not climb through the hatch.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2019

After three attempts at clearing the air lock, I got my engine going and made it through.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 4, 2018

She went into the air lock, pushing the hatboxes ahead of her.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

He had to film a few moments of footage in which Roy emerges from an air-lock door and leaps into open space—the lead-in to the climax of the film.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 9, 2019

It was something more than an extension of the newspaper: for some a home from home, for others an air-lock between the desk and suburbia.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 2, 2019

There were also the air-lock steel doors that swung open, saloon-style, dozens of times a day, as miners in mantrips crossed over the primary tunnel providing fresh air.

From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2010

She opened the inner port of the air-lock and passed the article to the patient.

From Time Magazine Archive

Next to it, I discerned the air-lock corridor, the gray zone through which the soldiers had passed into the hot zone.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston