padlock

[ pad-lok ]

/ ˈpædˌlɒk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR padlock ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a portable or detachable lock with a pivoted or sliding shackle that can be passed through a link, ring, staple, or the like.

verb (used with object)

to fasten with or as with a padlock.

Nearby words

paderborn, paderewski, padeye, padishah, padkos, padlock, padma shri, padouk, padova, padparadschah sapphire, padre

Origin of padlock

First recorded in 1425–75, padlock is from the late Middle English word padlok. See pod³, lock¹

Related forms

un·pad·locked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for padlock

On the Pont des Arts we buy a padlock engraved with our initials, T and E.
Discovering The Charms Of La France Profonde|Emma Woolf|June 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yet Romney happily slid his leg into this manacle, slammed down the padlock, and threw the key into the river.
Michael Tomasky: Obama’s High-Stakes Gamble on Gay Marriage|Michael Tomasky|May 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
One tent had a padlock on the front, a visible if not effective request for some privacy.
Stimulus Dollars for Sex Offenders?|Gerald Posner|September 4, 2009|DAILY BEAST
This extraordinary man lived in a cave, and when Shên I and his men arrived he emerged brandishing a padlock.
Myths and Legends of China|E. T. C. Werner

Kiddie loosened the padlock, flung open the door and looked within.
Kiddie the Scout|Robert Leighton
So Andy put a padlock on the old log cabin where his loom was set up and went back down to the mill-town.
The Best Short Stories of 1915|Various
They looked upon my collar and padlock just as women look at each other's diamonds.
Daisy|Miranda Eliot Swan
Already he had set the ax-blade between the padlock and the staple.
Darkness and Dawn|George Allan England

British Dictionary definitions for padlock

padlock

/ (ˈpædˌlɒk) /

noun

a detachable lock having a hinged or sliding shackle, which can be used to secure a door, lid, etc, by passing the shackle through rings or staples

verb

(tr) to fasten with or as if with a padlock

Word Origin for padlock

C15 pad, of obscure origin

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