lockstep

[ lok-step ]

/ ˈlɒkˌstɛp /

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noun

a way of marching in very close file, in which the leg of each person moves with and closely behind the corresponding leg of the person ahead.

a rigidly inflexible pattern or process.

adjective

rigidly inflexible: a lockstep educational curriculum.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of lockstep

First recorded in 1795–1805; lock¹ + step

Words nearby lockstep

lock rail, lockram, lock seam, lockset, locksmith, lockstep, lock stitch, lock, stock, and barrel, lock the barn door after the horse has bolted, lockup, lock washer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use lockstep in a sentence

It comes down to having to set up new processes to keep in lockstep with how Apple’s framework functions.
For the IDFA-curious, WTF is Apple’s SKADNetwork?|Seb Joseph|February 8, 2021|Digiday
At times, she has placed the only dissenting vote on a five-member board that tends to work together in lockstep.
The Ultimate Guide to the Local Election|Voice of San Diego|October 19, 2020|Voice of San Diego
It’s helped that the messaging between the experts and politicians has been more or less in lockstep since day one.
As COVID cases spike in Europe, Italy stands out—but this time for doing things right|Bernhard Warner|October 15, 2020|Fortune
He shared this stock chart, which shows the London and Moscow shares in near lockstep since the start of the year.
Down a stunning 23%, London’s once mighty FTSE is trading like an emerging-market stock exchange|Bernhard Warner|September 26, 2020|Fortune

It’s hard to imagine a recovery where the banks don’t rebound in lockstep with the rest of American business.
Despite Warren Buffett’s selloff, bank stocks look like great buys in this market|Shawn Tully|August 18, 2020|Fortune
Yet they cannot reasonably believe that the rest of America will march in lockstep with them.
Obama Can Speak to His Base, but Other Americans Want More|Lloyd Green|May 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And demand (and sales) tends to rise in lockstep with the economy.
Solar Power Burns Old Utilities’ Business Models|Daniel Gross|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When a community is in the grips of a siege mentality, that sort of lockstep friendship may seem appealing.
Canadian PM Stephen Harper Displays Lockstep Friendship With Israel at JNF Dinner|Mira Sucharov|December 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
What we were again thinking was here again are two characters who have for the most part been in lockstep for two years.
‘Homeland’ Showrunner: ‘We Knew We Had to Plot a New Course’|Andrew Romano|September 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And as waves, they will produce characteristic interference patterns caused by waves arriving out of step or in lockstep.
The Big Idea: Werner Loewenstein’s ‘Physics in Mind’|Werner Loewenstein|February 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I've thought iv thim whin th' lockstep was goin' in to dinner, an' prayed f'r th' day whin I might see ye again.
Mr. Dooley: In the Hearts of His Countrymen|Finley Peter Dunne
Flanked by guards, we cross the prison yard in close lockstep.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
Breakfast is over; the lines form in lockstep, and march to the shops.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
Often enough it is the choice of the gun on the shoulder, or, by and by, the stripes on the back in the lockstep gang.
The Battle with the Slum|Jacob A. Riis.
Through the leveling influences of the educational lockstep such children at present are often lost in the masses.
The Measurement of Intelligence|Lewis Madison Terman

British Dictionary definitions for lockstep

lockstep

/ (ˈlɒkˌstɛp) /

noun

a method of marching in step such that the men follow one another as closely as possible

mainly US and Canadian a standard procedure that is closely, often mindlessly, followed

in lockstep with progressing at exactly the same speed and in the same direction as other people or things, esp as a matter of course rather than by choice

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012