unlock
Americanverb (used with object)
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unlocks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unlocked,
past participle, past
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unlocking
present participle
-
to undo the lock of (a door, chest, etc.), especially with a key.
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to open or release by or as if by undoing a lock.
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to open (anything firmly closed or joined).
to unlock the jaws.
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to lay open; disclose.
to unlock the secrets of one's heart.
verb (used without object)
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unlocks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unlocked,
past participle, past
-
unlocking
present participle
verb
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(tr) to unfasten (a lock, door, etc)
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(tr) to open, release, or let loose
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(tr) to disclose or provide the key to
unlock a puzzle
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(intr) to become unlocked
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unlocksimple
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unlockssimple
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have unlockedperfect
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has unlockedperfect
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am unlockingprogressive
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are unlockingprogressive
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is unlockingprogressive
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have been unlockingperfect progressive
-
has been unlockingperfect progressive
Past
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unlockedsimple
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had unlockedperfect
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was unlockingprogressive
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were unlockingprogressive
-
had been unlockingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unlock
Explanation
When you unlock something, you turn a key or use a code in order to open it. You have to unlock your locker before you can get the books you need for English class. You might unlock your front door by turning a bolt or unlock a hotel room door by sliding a card into a reader. Either way, something was secured with a lock and now you've opened it. This verb is also used for smart phones: "Once you unlock the screen, you can see that photo I sent." Unlock is formed by adding the prefix un-, "reverse," to lock, "fasten or secure."
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.
See Examples For:
Soumik Ghosh, PhD student in Fefferman's group at the University of Chicago, added, "Beyond strengthening experimental validation, advances in verification have the potential to unlock practical applications for the next generation of quantum computers."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
If you’re not a Pluskateer yet, join Slate Plus to unlock this conversation—and other weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis.
From Slate ● Aug. 29, 2026
There is no debate that White and Saka's partnership down the right-hand side, with the defender's overlapping runs, unlock the best in Saka.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
His idea was that advances in artificial intelligence would soon unlock resources on a cosmic scale, enabling humans to colonize faraway planets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
She remembered again what her husband had said—how easy to unlock a door when you have the key.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
“It just unlocks all new types of interactive, immersive, cross-media experiences for consumers that really have been nearly impossible to pull off before.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
That doesn’t mean every SpaceX shareholder whose stock unlocks will sell.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
No other U.S. citizen is known to be considered wrongfully detained in China, a designation that the State Department says unlocks exceptional U.S. government attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
It unlocks banking transactions, insurance and transportation and does away with the complex networks that Iran has previously used to sell crude.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
He nods at the barn and unlocks the door and we walk into a big, bright room that smells like paint.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
While Williams is more solemn on the singles court, this format has often unlocked her more relaxed side.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
It has gained around 19% in the week since the first tranche of shares were unlocked last Thursday and another release is coming next week.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The shares unlocked on Thursday represented just a fraction of the shares held by insiders.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
The 912 million SpaceX shares that unlocked Thursday—holdings worth more than $100 billion—far exceed the previous supply of tradable stock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
Hamilton was hardly unique in his recognition that the vast resources of the North American continent constituted a repository of riches that, once unlocked, offered prospects of unparalleled prosperity and national destiny.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
So what is Bucky Brooks doing before sunrise, unlocking the gate outside the Granada Hills High football field?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Our friends over at the Slate podcast Slow Burn are good at taking events that we think are settled history, then unlocking a new understanding of those stories through interviews, archives, and fresh analysis.
From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2026
Astrophysicists in India now say the latest findings from Aditya-L1, the country's first solar observation mission in space, have provided them some vital clues to unlocking those mysteries.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
“The transaction strengthens Air Canada’s financial position by unlocking value from Aeroplan while retaining full operational control,” said John Di Bert, the airline’s chief financial officer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
His fingers trembled so that he had difficulty in unlocking the door; but they were not trembling from fear.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
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.
