an act or instance of becoming unalterable, unmovable, or rigid.
commitment, binding, or restriction.
Enclose, surround, as in The ship was completely locked in ice . [c. 1400s]
Also, lock into . Fix firmly in position, commit to something. This phrase often occurs as , as in She felt she was locked in a binding agreement , or Many of the stockholders are locked into their present positions . [Mid-1900s]
First recorded in 1965–70; noun use of verb phrase lock in
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Founder Liang Wenfeng invested around $3 billion and retained control via a limited partnership and a five-year investor lock-in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Historically low mortgage rates followed by inflation fueled price appreciation and resulted in a lock-in effect for owners that is constricting the supply of homes for sale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026
In 2024, existing-home sales were 4.06 million, the lowest level since 1995, largely due to mortgage rate lock-in.
From Barron's ● Jan. 27, 2026
Housing inventory has already been rising sharply as the lock-in effect fades.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 7, 2026
As the week dragged on, Friday night and the library lock-in started to remind Kyle of Christmas, too: It felt like they would never come.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
Employees who were given shares over the years in lieu of cash compensation, for example, have one way to lock in the cash value of their deferred compensation: by selling.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 16, 2026
He says he decided to lock in the cheaper price at the start of the conflict because he predicted the war would cause prices to rise.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Once broadly available, Terra will be priced at half the cost of its predecessor GPT-5.5, OpenAI has said, as it seeks to lock in customers amid fierce competition from Anthropic and Google.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Child-care advocates are supporting new legislation, Assembly Bill 1981, to lock in a timeline that would allow providers to be reimbursed for their services at increasing rates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Angel, taking deep breaths, made sure she heard the clink of the lock in the outside door, and ran past Gerald into the bathroom.
From "Forged by Fire" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
