Jump To:

• Davy Jones's locker
  Davy Jones's locker

  noun

  the ocean's bottom, especially when regarded as the grave of all who perish at sea.
• Davy Jones's Locker
  Davy Jones's Locker

  Sailors'slang for the bottom of the ocean. Someone drowned at sea may be said to have “gone down to Davy Jones's Locker.”

Davy Jones's locker

American  

[john-ziz, johnz] / ˈdʒoʊn zɪz, dʒoʊnz /

noun

1. the ocean's bottom, especially when regarded as the grave of all who perish at sea.

---

Davy Jones's Locker Cultural  

1. Sailors'slang for the bottom of the ocean. Someone drowned at sea may be said to have “gone down to Davy Jones's Locker.”

---

Davy Jones's locker Idioms  

1. Also, Davy's locker. The bottom of the sea, especially the grave of those who die at sea. For example, Caught out at sea during the hurricane, they thought they were heading for Davy Jones's locker. This term, first recorded in 1726, alludes to Davy Jones, a name given to the evil spirit of the sea. The ultimate origin of both Davy and Jones is disputed. A logical theory is that Jones referred to the biblical Jonah who was swallowed by a whale, and Davy was a corruption of a West Indian word for “devil.”

---

Etymology

Origin of Davy Jones's locker

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Davy Jones's locker Davy Jones's Locker

Mr Sherborne said on Thursday it was a "shame" that messages where "lying at the bottom of the sea in Davy Jones's locker".

From BBC ● May 13, 2022

What you see here is a Brazilian maniac dropping into the tsunami-manifestation of Davy Jones's locker, and somehow living not only tell the tale, but also accept to an award for it.

From Golf Digest ● Apr. 30, 2018

Like everybody else, scientists have long wanted to know what Davy Jones's locker holds, besides sunken ships.

From Time Magazine Archive

"Well, I'm not superstitious, but a honeymoon spent trying to break into Davy Jones's locker for sunken treasure—I guess that's a good story, isn't it?"

From The Treasure-Train by Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve

"They are gone to Davy Jones's locker now," replied Perth, shaking his head.

From Down the Rhine Young America in Germany by Oliver Optic

The richest treasures of Davy Jones's Locker lie open to view, as the boat glides through the ever-changing scenery mirrored in the transparent sea.

From Through the Malay Archipelago by Emily Richings

If we did she has pulled herself together and come back from Davy Jones's Locker to a certainty.

From The Battleship Boys' First Step Upward or, Winning Their Grades as Petty Officers by Frank Gee Patchin

If we keep on another thirty seconds we are in for a visit to Davy Jones's Locker.

From Gallipoli Diary, Volume I by Sir Ian Hamilton

I tell thee, Jack, thou'rt Free, as Free as I am; leastways if we get to Jamaica without going to Davy Jones's Locker; for on blue water no man can say he's Free.

From The Strange Adventures of Captain Dangerous, Vol. 2 Who was a sailor, a soldier, a merchant, a spy, a slave among the moors... by George Augustus Sala

A small group has collected before Mr. Wyllie's "Davy Jones's Locker," which they inspect solemnly for some time before venturing to commit themselves to any opinion.

From Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 98 June 7, 1890 by Various

Related Words

• expanse
• lake
• ocean
• pond
• surf