airlock

British

/ ˈɛəˌlɒk /

noun

a bubble in a pipe causing an obstruction or stoppage to the flow
an airtight chamber with regulated air pressure used to gain access to a space that has air under pressure

"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

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.

The weekend-to-work transition became less painful, too: Mondays were like an airlock between my weekend downtime and my workweek of meetings and calls.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr Martin has also urged residents to "stop abusing SEW technical staff on the streets repairing burst mains or airlocks in the system".

From BBC

Once the external gate of the airlock had opened, it was reported the taxi drove off down the road past reporters.

From BBC

Rosemary's job is to reach him, check his condition – and tow him back to the airlock.

From BBC

During the mission, he tested an experimental spacesuit and a new cost-saving protocol to exit and re-enter the spacecraft without using an airlock.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023