lockdown

[lok-doun]

noun

1. the confining of prisoners to their cells, as following a riot or other disturbance.

   The prison lockdown continues, more than three weeks after the death of a guard.

2. a security measure taken during an emergency to prevent people from leaving or entering a building or other location: The governor implemented a statewide lockdown to slow the spread of the virus—residents may not leave their homes for nonessential activities.

   The school remains under lockdown due to police activity in the area.

   The governor implemented a statewide lockdown to slow the spread of the virus—residents may not leave their homes for nonessential activities.

   The army base was on lockdown after a report of shots fired.

3. a freeze or pause.

   Banks aren’t lending during this credit lockdown.

lockdown

/ ˈlɒkˌdəʊn /

noun

1. a security measure in which those inside a building such as a prison, school, or hospital are required to remain confined in it for a time

   many schools remained under lockdown yesterday

Word History and Origins

Origin of lockdown¹

First recorded in 1970–75; lock ¹ + -down, probably extracted from nouns formed from phrasal verbs, such as crackdown, shutdown, etc.

Example Sentences

During lockdown, the Queen, in her previous role as Duchess of Cornwall, set up a book club and the Brighton author was one of the selected authors.

Read more on BBC

"It was total lockdown," he told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

Read more on BBC

In Cameroon's English-speaking North-West and South-West regions, where a long-running separatist conflict continues, an election boycott lockdown has been imposed, paralysing business activities, movement and education.

Read more on BBC

And the jobless rate, while steady last month, has risen half a percentage point since the start of the year and remains at its highest level since 2016, outside the peak during pandemic lockdowns.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“If there was a complete lockdown and no rare earth exports, it would have a massive ripple—not just on the U.S. but also others.”

Read more on Barron's