lockout
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lockout
First recorded in 1850–55; noun use of verb phrase lock out
Explanation
A lockout is a company's response to workers who are disputing conditions or planning a strike. During a lockout, managers don't allow workers to come to work until they agree to the company's terms of employment. A lockout is sort of the opposite of a strike. During a strike, employees refuse to work until management agrees to compromise with them on issues like wages and working conditions. During a lockout, the company refuses to allow workers access to the workplace until they settle for the terms the owners and managers want to enforce. Sometimes just the threat of a lockout is enough to suppress protests and strikes.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Baseball’s current collective bargaining agreement expires about a month after the World Series, at which point owners are all but certain to initiate a lockout that could threaten the 2027 season.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 1, 2026
Or do the owners surrender on the salary cap, well aware that a 2027 lockout could drive away fans on the eve of media rights negotiations in 2028?
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
PHOENIX—There are only two words any NFL fan needs to hear to remember the perils of a referee lockout: Fail Mary.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
A lockout next winter is all but certain.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
Once, when I am with Pauline as my team leader, she calls Ted to report a lockout and his response, she reports ruefully, is, “Don’t do this to me.”
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
