lockdown
Americannoun
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the confining of prisoners to their cells, as following a riot or other disturbance.
The prison lockdown continues, more than three weeks after the death of a guard.
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a security measure taken during an emergency to prevent people from leaving or entering a building or other location: The governor implemented a statewide lockdown to slow the spread of the virus—residents may not leave their homes for nonessential activities.
The school remains under lockdown due to police activity in the area.
The governor implemented a statewide lockdown to slow the spread of the virus—residents may not leave their homes for nonessential activities.
The army base was on lockdown after a report of shots fired.
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a freeze or pause.
Banks aren’t lending during this credit lockdown.
noun
Etymology
Origin of lockdown
First recorded in 1970–75; lock 1 + -down, probably extracted from nouns formed from phrasal verbs, such as crackdown, shutdown, etc.
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.
“All we know is that the entire Academy island has lost communication, and we are on lockdown until we know more.”
From Literature
City of Edinburgh Council confirmed all schools and council buildings in the Calders area are on lockdown, while Lothian Buses said its number 20 service was being diverted until further notice.
From BBC
"We're not in like a lockdown, it's not that kind of situation. There still are cars in the road, people still kind of going about normal working life," he said.
From BBC
Head of marketing Carlsson Elkins said that companies started prioritising plants after lockdown to make spaces more appealing and get workers back into the office.
From BBC
They predicted the wealthy and their companies would be driven out by lockdowns, governance failures, crime and the sudden possibility of remote work.
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.
