springlock

[ spring-lok ]

noun

a lock that fastens automatically by a spring.

Origin of springlock

First recorded in 1475–85; spring + lock¹

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

How to use springlock in a sentence

He heard the snap of the spring-lock like something bursting in his brain, and sat astonied.
Tales and Fantasies | Robert Louis Stevenson
This door of the ante-chamber has a spring-lock,it can easily get fast shut by the merest accident.
The Sorrows of Satan | Marie Corelli
Says I, ''Tis a spring-lock; pull it to, and it will be fast.'
She Stands Accused | Victor MacClure
He had wrenched his key from his pocket as he tore down the street, and he jumped at the spring-lock like a demon.
The Monster and Other Stories | Stephen Crane
Mrs. Magill, with great presence of mind, instantly shut the spring-lock door and began to walk up-stairs.
True and Other Stories | George Parsons Lathrop

British Dictionary definitions for spring lock

spring lock

noun

a type of lock having a spring-loaded bolt, a key being required only to unlock it

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

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