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.
Exact rates vary by health, location and insurer, but group policies often lock in lower rates.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026
What was the thing that really helped you lock in to who he was?
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2026
But it may also have given investors a good excuse to lock in some profit following the spell of heady gains for AST and Rocket Lab.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
So, in our mind, it is a very smart move by OpenAI, Anthropic and others to build and lock in that deployment capacity, ultimately to accelerate adoption and to drive token usage.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
“When you teach me, will I be able to pick any lock in the world?”
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
