Lock(s) may refer to:

Common meanings

Lock and key A lock is a mechanical or electronic fastening device that is released by a physical object (such as a key, keycard, fingerprint, RFID card, security token or coin), by supplying secret information (such as a number or letter permutation or p ...

, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *

Lock (water navigation) A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water lev ...

, a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal

Arts and entertainment

* ''Lock'' (film), a 2016 Punjabi film * Lock (''Saga of the Skolian Empire''), a sentient machine in the novels by Catherine Asaro * Lock (waltz), a dance figure * ''Locked'' (miniseries), Indian web miniseries * ''The Lock'' (Constable), an 1824 painting by John Constable * ''The Lock'' (Fragonard) or ''The Bolt'', a 1777 painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard * ''Locks'' (album), by Garnet Crow, 2008

People

* Lock (surname) * Ormer Locklear (1891–1920), American stunt pilot and film actor nicknamed "Lock" *

George Locks George Melbourne Locks (24 May 1889 – 17 September 1965) was an English cricketer who played for Essex. He was born in Leytonstone and died in Redbridge. Locks made two first-class appearances for Essex during the 1928 season, the first, ...

(1889–1965), English cricketer * Lock Martin (1916–1959), stage name of American actor Joseph Lockard Martin, Jr.

Places

* Lock, Ohio, an unincorporated community in the United States * Lock, South Australia, a small town in the center of the Eyre Peninsula * Lock Island, an island in the River Thames in England * Lock Island (Nunavut), an island Peel Sound in Nunavut, Canada

Sports

Lock (rugby league) A rugby league team consists of thirteen players on the field, with 4 substitutes on the bench. Each of the thirteen players is assigned a position, normally with a standardised number, which reflects their role in attack and defence, although pl ...

, a player position in rugby league, known as loose forward in the United Kingdom *

Lock (rugby union) In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

, a player position in rugby union *Lock, any of several

grappling hold A grappling hold, commonly referred to simply as a hold that in Japanese is referred to as ''katame-waza'' ( "grappling technique"), is any specific grappling, wrestling, judo, or other martial art grip that is applied to an opponent. Grappli ...

s in wrestling, judo and other martial arts

Technology

Computing

Lock (computer science) In computer science, a lock or mutex (from mutual exclusion) is a synchronization primitive: a mechanism that enforces limits on access to a resource when there are many threads of execution. A lock is designed to enforce a mutual exclusion conc ...

, a bookkeeping object used to serialize concurrent access *

Lock (database) Record locking is the technique of preventing simultaneous access to data in a database, to prevent inconsistent results. The classic example is demonstrated by two bank clerks attempting to update the same bank account for two different transacti ...

, a feature used when multiple users access a database concurrently *

File locking File locking is a mechanism that restricts access to a computer file, or to a region of a file, by allowing only one user (computing), user or computer process, process to modify or delete it at a specific time and to prevent reading of the file w ...

, describes a mechanism that restricts access to a computer file *

SIM lock SIM lock, simlock, network lock, carrier lock or (master) subsidy lock is a technical restriction built into GSM and CDMA mobile phones by mobile phone manufacturers for use by service providers to restrict the use of these phones to specific co ...

, a restriction on mobile phones to work only in certain countries or with certain providers

Other technologies

, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *

Lock (firearm) The lock of a firearm is the mechanism used to initiate firing. It is a historical term, in that it generally refers to such mechanisms used in muzzle-loading and early breech-loading firearms. Side-lock refers to the type of construction, in w ...

, the ignition mechanism of small arms *

, a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal *

Lock (weapons guidance) A Constantly Computed Impact Point (CCIP) is a calculation provided by a weapon's sighting system. It is a predicted point of impact found from the launch platform's movement, the target's movement, gravity, projectile launch velocity, projectile ...

, missile navigation system's target acquisition fix *

Fermentation lock A fermentation lock or airlock is a device used in beer brewing and wine making that allows carbon dioxide released during fermentation to escape the fermenter, while not allowing air to enter the fermenter, thus avoiding oxidation. There ar ...

, a device in beer and wine making that allows carbon dioxide to escape while not allowing air to enter *

Rope lock In a theater fly system, a rope lock is a device used to prevent a rope, and the line set it controls, from moving. A rope lock is controlled by a steel handle that engages the lock when vertical and releases it when horizontal. The handle is ty ...

, a device used in theater fly systems

Other uses

Lock of hair A lock of hair is a piece or pieces of hair that has been cut from, or remains singly on, a human head, most commonly bunched or tied together in some way. A standard dictionary definition defines a lock as a tress, curl, or ringlet of hair. S ...

, a piece of hair *

Dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair. Origins Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europ ...

, or locks, rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding