interlock
Americanverb (used without object)
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interlocks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
interlocked,
past participle, past
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interlocking
present participle
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to fit into each other, as parts of machinery, so that all action is synchronized.
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to interweave or interlace, one with another.
The branches of the trees interlock to form a natural archway.
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Railroads. (of switches, signals, etc.) to operate together in a prearranged order.
verb (used with object)
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interlocks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
interlocked,
past participle, past
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interlocking
present participle
-
to lock one with another.
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to fit (parts) together to ensure coordinated action.
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Railroads. to arrange (switches, signals, etc.) to effect a predetermined sequence of movement.
noun
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the fact or condition of interlocking or of being interlocked.
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the existence or an instance of an interlocking directorate.
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a device for preventing a mechanism from being set in motion when another mechanism is in such a position that the two operating simultaneously might produce undesirable results.
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Also called ignition interlock. a device or system that prevents an automotive engine from starting until the seat belt for any occupied front seat is fastened.
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a stretch fabric made with a circular knitting machine having two alternating sets of long and short needles.
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Movies. a device for synchronizing the action of a camera and sound recorder.
verb
noun
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the act of interlocking or the state of being interlocked
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a device, esp one operated electromechanically, used in a logic circuit or electrical safety system to prevent an activity being initiated unless preceded by certain events
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a closely knitted fabric
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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interlocksimple
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interlockssimple
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have interlockedperfect
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has interlockedperfect
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am interlockingprogressive
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are interlockingprogressive
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is interlockingprogressive
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have been interlockingperfect progressive
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has been interlockingperfect progressive
Past
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interlockedsimple
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had interlockedperfect
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was interlockingprogressive
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were interlockingprogressive
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had been interlockingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of interlock
Explanation
When things interlock with each other, they fit or work together. When a bicycle is properly built, all of its separate parts interlock. The parts of a machine have to interlock for it to work well: gears must interlock with each other, for example. You can also interlock fingers with another person, holding hands so that they're laced together. This verb, dating from the 17th century, combines inter-, "between" and lock, "to close or to lock," from an Old English root.
Vocabulary lists containing interlock
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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.
See Examples For:
Maerl beds may closely resemble corals but they are in fact thousands of pieces of free-living calcified seaweed that can interlock to create a carpet brimming with life.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
"Let's take sand as an example. Sand is smooth and convex-shaped, meaning it cannot interlock from grain to grain," PhD student Youhan Sohn said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 15, 2026
Also like MBS and CDS, new financial assets have begun to interlock in odd, hard-to-understand ways with traditional financial products.
From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026
One of the toughest challenges was figuring out how the two halves of “Here We Are” interlock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 2023
These two debates, about thinking and knowing, interlock because both generations have downplayed the idea that the new science was grounded in a new type of engagement with sensory reality.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Park’s directorial vernacular, which pairs brutal subject matter with black comedy, interlocks neatly with Nguyen’s satirical style.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2024
The subfloor needs to be in the same plane so the LVP interlocks and stays locked when you walk on it.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
The pizza will also be served in a round pizza box, which is industrially compostable and interlocks with other boxes for stability.
From The Verge ● Oct. 22, 2019
Ignition interlocks for first-time offenders is a step out of the legislative dark ages for the commonwealth’s DUI laws.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 30, 2017
There are four different safety interlocks that prevent the regulator from letting the Hab's oxygen content get too low.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
The picture fuses interlocked storylines and blunt social commentary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
There were no fixed guards preventing access to the blades from the underside and there were not any interlocked guards which would stop the rotating blades.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2024
Before police cleared the area around Hamilton Hall on April 30, 30 or so students interlocked arms outside the building in a human barricade to protect the protesters inside.
From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2024
The stars that Götberg and Drout search for go in pairs: interlocked in a binary star system.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 15, 2023
Its face was as solid as a mask, the interlocked feathers unmoving, yet the way it moved its head, those small angles, they communicated a world.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
In the worm's jaws, sharper changes in strain across tiny regions appear to increase the interlocking of defects within the atomic structure, producing the characteristic size effect.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
Set in Mexico, the film stars Mexican-born Anthony Quinn as a brilliant but aging matador facing interlocking personal crises, and Maureen O’Hara as the wealthy American who sets her cap for him.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
Astrolabes are metallic disks with multi-layered, interlocking components that were historically used to tell the time, map the stars, the direction of Mecca and the motion of the sky.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
To say that our picture of the Mayan civilization—an interlocking network of kingdoms occupying the Yucatán Peninsula and swaths of present-day Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador from roughly 1000 B.C. to A.D.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn’t do anything rash.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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.
