combination lock

Save This Word!

noun

a lock opened by rotating one or more specially marked dials a given number of times through a particular set of positions in a prescribed order and direction.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!

Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.

Question 1 of 7

“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of combination lock

First recorded in 1850–55

Words nearby combination lock

combination, combination calculus, combination door, combination drug, combination last, combination lock, combination principle, combination room, combinations, combination shot, combination square

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use combination lock in a sentence

I shifted against him, a combination lock pressed into my back, lockers slamming around us.
Be a good example|April Sopkin|October 27, 2021|MIT Technology Review
While the desk sergeant ran a background check, he was roughed up by another officer in the lock-up.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face?|Goldie Taylor|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Now they will definitely lock Navalny in prison,” one of the women in the crowd said.
Russia’s Rebel In Chief Escapes House Arrest|Anna Nemtsova|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He uses some combination of the words comfort or discomfort in regards to how he feels about situations over 30 times.
The Story of the World’s Greatest Cricket Player|William O’Connor|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

While the look worked for some, the combination of heat and chemicals took a toll on the hair of others.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45|Danielle Belton|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But if he heard this combination of Greek and Cuban music, he would be forced to reconsider.
The Best Albums of 2014|Ted Gioia|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The place was used as a lock-up for some time after the incorporation, and the old irons were kept on show for years.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
Father, mother, sister, and brother all played and worked together with rare combination of sympathetic gifts.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
The other was the spirited portrait of Baron von Friedericks, a happy combination of cavalier and soldier in its manly strength.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
I do not know—I do not dare to believe—that I shall live to hear that key grating in the lock.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
In the lungs hemoglobin forms a loose combination with oxygen, which it readily gives up when it reaches the tissues.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd

British Dictionary definitions for combination lock

combination lock

noun

a type of lock that can only be opened when a set of dials releasing the tumblers of the lock are turned to show a specific sequence of numbers

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