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]

Example Sentences

The players could be locked out after next season.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“The hardest part was being literally locked out of something I loved so much.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Most cannot, and baseball should be able to find ways to share the wealth without risking its tenuous but growing popularity by locking out players in pursuit of a salary cap.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Indeed, the premium spike threatens to lock out the very Americans that the 2010 Affordable Care Act — President Obama’s signature domestic policy win — was intended to help, said Altman.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He and his workers were being locked out of Hopwood Hall and its grounds effective immediately.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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