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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

air lock air-lock

Anticipation and tension grew as the crew prepared to open the hatch on the craft that has no air lock, or doorway between the vacuum outside and the rest of the spacecraft.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2024

Then, in an air lock and still suited, each will take a 10-minute shower that sprays them from all sides with a chemical detergent.

From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2021

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

It deflated enough to allow Mr. Leonov to enter the capsule’s air lock headfirst, but the change in pressure left him at risk of decompression sickness.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2019

You would have to have a gray area—an air lock with a chemical shower of some kind.

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

Sanitation of the ship will be accomplished through the medium of an air-lock in which refuse will be deposited.

From Time Magazine Archive

They felt their way down the dark air-lock corridor, opened the far door, and crossed over to the hot side.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

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