lock out

verb

1. to prevent from entering by locking a door

2. to prevent (employees) from working during an industrial dispute, as by closing a factory

noun

1. the closing of a place of employment by an employer, in order to bring pressure on employees to agree to terms

Idioms and Phrases

Keep out, prevent from entering. For example, Karen was so angry at her brother that she locked him out of the house . [Late 1500s] Shakespeare had it in The Comedy of Errors (4:1): “For locking me out of my doors by day.”

Withhold work from employees during a labor dispute, as in The company threatened to lock out the strikers permanently . [Mid-1800s]

Related Words

• ban 
• bar 
• block 
• boycott 
• eliminate 
• ignore 
• omit 
• ostracize 
• preclude 
• prevent 
• prohibit 
• refuse 
• reject 
• remove 
• rule out 
• suspend