Lochial Lo"chi·al adjective [ Confer French lochial .] Of or pertaining to the lochia.

Lock Lock noun [ Anglo-Saxon locc ; akin to Dutch lok , German locke , Old High German loc, Icelandic lokkr , and perhaps to Greek ... to bend, twist.] A tuft of hair; a flock or small quantity of wool, hay, or other like substance; a tress or ringlet of hair.

These gray locks , the pursuivants of death.

Shak.

Lock Lock noun [ Anglo-Saxon loc inclosure, an inclosed place, the fastening of a door, from lūcan to lock, fasten; akin to Old Saxon lūkan (in comp.), Dutch luiken , Old High German lūhhan , Icelandic l...ka , Goth. lūkan (in comp.); confer Sanskrit ruj to break. Confer Locket .] 1. Anything that fastens; specifically, a fastening, as for a door, a lid, a trunk, a drawer, and the like, in which a bolt is moved by a key so as to hold or to release the thing fastened. 2. A fastening together or interlacing; a closing of one thing upon another; a state of being fixed or immovable.

Albemarle Street closed by a lock of carriages.

De Quincey. 3. A place from which egress is prevented, as by a lock. Dryden. 4. The barrier or works which confine the water of a stream or canal. 5. An inclosure in a canal with gates at each end, used in raising or lowering boats as they pass from one level to another; -- called also lift lock . 6. That part or apparatus of a firearm by which the charge is exploded; as, a match lock , flint lock , percussion lock , etc. 7. A device for keeping a wheel from turning. 8. A grapple in wrestling. Milton. Detector lock , a lock containing a contrivance for showing whether it as has been tampered with. -- Lock bay (Canals) , the body of water in a lock chamber. -- Lock chamber , the inclosed space between the gates of a canal lock. -- Lock nut . See Check nut , under Check . -- Lock plate , a plate to which the mechanism of a gunlock is attached. -- Lock rail (Architecture) , in ordinary paneled doors, the rail nearest the lock. Lock rand (Masonry) , a range of bond stone. Knight. -- Mortise lock , a door lock inserted in a mortise. -- Rim lock , a lock fastened to the face of a door, thus differing from a mortise lock .

Lock Lock transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Locked ; present participle & verbal noun Locking .] 1. To fasten with a lock, or as with a lock; to make fast; to prevent free movement of; as, to lock a door, a carriage wheel, a river, etc. 2. To prevent ingress or access to, or exit from, by fastening the lock or locks of; -- often with up ; as, to lock or lock up , a house, jail, room, trunk. etc. 3. To fasten in or out, or to make secure by means of, or as with, locks; to confine, or to shut in or out -- often with up ; as, to lock one's self in a room; to lock up the prisoners; to lock up one's silver; to lock intruders out of the house; to lock money into a vault; to lock a child in one's arms; to lock a secret in one's breast. 4. To link together; to clasp closely; as, to lock arms. " Lock hand in hand." Shak. 5. (Canals) To furnish with locks; also, to raise or lower (a boat) in a lock. 6. (Fencing) To seize, as the sword arm of an antagonist, by turning the left arm around it, to disarm him.

Lock Lock intransitive verb To become fast, as by means of a lock or by interlacing; as, the door locks close.

When it locked none might through it pass.

Spenser. To lock into , to fit or slide into; as, they lock into each other. Boyle.

Lock hospital Lock" hos"pi·tal A hospital for the treatment of venereal diseases. [ Eng.]

Lock step Lock" step` A mode of marching by a body of men going one after another as closely as possible, in which the leg of each moves at the same time with the corresponding leg of the person before him.

Lock stitch Lock" stitch` A peculiar sort of stitch formed by the locking of two threads together, as in the work done by some sewing machines. See Stitch .

Lock-down Lock"-down` noun A contrivance to fasten logs together in rafting; -- used by lumbermen. [ U.S.]

Lock-weir Lock"-weir` noun A waste weir for a canal, discharging into a lock chamber.

Lockage Lock"age noun 1. Materials for locks in a canal, or the works forming a lock or locks. 2. Toll paid for passing the locks of a canal. 3. Amount of elevation and descent made by the locks of a canal.

The entire lock will be about fifty feet.

De Witt Clinton.

Locked-jaw Locked"-jaw` noun See Lockjaw .

Locken Lock"en obsolete past participle of Lock . Chaucer.

Locken Lock"en noun (Botany) The globeflower ( Trollius ).

Locker Lock"er noun 1. One who, or that which, locks. 2. A drawer, cupboard, compartment, or chest, esp. one in a ship, that may be closed with a lock. Chain locker (Nautical) , a compartment in the hold of a vessel, for holding the chain cables. -- Davy Jones's locker , or Davy's locker . See Davy Jones . -- Shot locker , a compartment where shot are deposited. Totten.

Locket Lock"et noun [ French loquet latch, dim. of Old French loc latch, lock; of German origin. See Lock a fastening.] 1. A small lock; a catch or spring to fasten a necklace or other ornament. 2. A little case for holding a miniature or lock of hair, usually suspended from a necklace or watch chain.

Lockjaw Lock"jaw` noun (Medicine) A contraction of the muscles of the jaw by which its motion is suspended; a variety of tetanus.

Lockless Lock"less adjective Destitute of a lock.

Lockman Lock"man noun A public executioner. [ Scot.]

Lockout Lock"out` noun The closing of a factory or workshop by an employer, usually in order to bring the workmen to satisfactory terms by a suspension of wages.

Lockram Lock"ram noun [ French locrenan , locronan ; from Locronan , in Brittany, where it is said to have been made.] A kind of linen cloth anciently used in England, originally imported from Brittany. Shak.

Locksmith Lock"smith` noun An artificer whose occupation is to make or mend locks.

Lockup Lock"up` noun A place where persons under arrest are temporarily locked up; a watchhouse.

Locky Lock"y adjective Having locks or tufts. [ R.] Sherwood.

Loco Lo"co adverb [ Italian ] (Mus.) A direction in written or printed music to return to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher.

Loco Lo"co noun [ Spanish loco insane.] (Botany) A plant ( Astragalus Hornii ) growing in the Southwestern United States, which is said to poison horses and cattle, first making them insane. The name is also given vaguely to several other species of the same genus. Called also loco weed .

Loco Lo"co noun (Botany) Any one of various leguminous plants or weeds besides Astragalus , whose herbage is poisonous to cattle, as Spiesia Lambertii , syn. Oxytropis Lambertii .

Loco Lo"co transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Locoed ; present participle & verbal noun Locoing .] To poison with loco; to affect with the loco disease; hence (Colloq.), to render insane or mad. "The locoed novelist." W. D. Howells.

Loco Lo"co noun A locomotive. [ Colloq.] Kipling.

Loco disease Loco disease (Veter.) A chronic nervous affection of cattle, horses, and sheep, caused by eating the loco weed and characterized by a slow, measured gait, high step, glassy eyes with defective vision, delirium, and gradual emaciation.

Locofoco Lo`co·fo"co noun [ Of uncertain etymol.; perhaps for Latin loco foci instead of fire; or, according to Bartlett, it was called so from a self-lighting cigar, with a match composition at the end, invented in 1834 by John Marck of New York, and called by him locofoco cigar , in imitation of the word locomotive , which by the uneducated was supposed to mean, self-moving.] 1. A friction match. [ U.S.] 2. A nickname formerly given to a member of the Democratic party. [ U.S.] » The name was first applied, in 1834, to a portion of the Democratic party, because, at a meeting in Tammany Hall, New York, in which there was great diversity of sentiment, the chairman left his seat, and the lights were extinguished, for the purpose of dissolving the meeting; when those who were opposed to an adjournment produced locofoco matches, rekindled the lights, continued the meeting, and accomplished their object.

Locomotion Lo`co·mo"tion noun [ Latin locus place + motio motion: confer French locomotion . See Local , and Motion .] 1. The act of moving from place to place. " Animal locomotion ." Milton. 2. The power of moving from place to place, characteristic of the higher animals and some of the lower forms of plant life.

Locomotive Lo"co·mo`tive adjective [ Confer French locomotif . See Locomotion .] 1. Moving from place to place; changing place, or able to change place; as, a locomotive animal. 2. Used in producing motion; as, the locomotive organs of an animal.

Locomotive Lo"co·mo`tive noun A locomotive engine; a self-propelling wheel carriage, especially one which bears a steam boiler and one or more steam engines which communicate motion to the wheels and thus propel the carriage, -- used to convey goods or passengers, or to draw wagons, railroad cars, etc. See Illustration in Appendix. Consolidation locomotive , a locomotive having four pairs of connected drivers. -- Locomotive car , a locomotive and a car combined in one vehicle; a dummy engine. [ U.S.] -- Locomotive engine . Same as Locomotive , above. -- Mogul locomotive . See Mogul .

Locomotiveness, Locomotivity Lo"co·mo`tive·ness, Lo`co·mo·tiv"i·ty noun [ Confer French locomotivité .] The power of changing place.

Locomotor Lo`co·mo"tor adjective [ See Locomotion .] Of or pertaining to movement or locomotion. Locomotor ataxia , or Progressive locomotor ataxy (Medicine) , a disease of the spinal cord characterized by peculiar disturbances of gait, and difficulty in coördinating voluntary movements.

Loculament Loc"u·la·ment noun [ Latin loculamentum case, box, from loculus a compartment, dim. of locus place.] (Botany) The cell of a pericarp in which the seed is lodged.

Locular Loc"u·lar adjective [ Latin locularis .] (Botany) Of or relating to the cell or compartment of an ovary, etc.; in composition, having cells; as tri locular . Gray.

Loculate Loc"u·late adjective [ Latin loculatus .] (Botany) Divided into compartments.

Locule Loc"ule noun [ Confer French locule . See Loculus .] (Zoology) A little hollow; a loculus.

Loculicidal Loc"u·li·ci`dal adjective [ Latin loculus cell + caedere to cut: confer French loculicide .] (Botany) Dehiscent through the middle of the back of each cell; -- said of capsules.

Loculose, Loculous Loc"u·lose`, Loc"u·lous adjective [ Latin loculosus . See Loculament .] (Botany) Divided by internal partitions into cells, as the pith of the pokeweed.

Loculus Loc"u·lus noun ; plural Loculi . [ Latin , little place, a compartment.] 1. (Zoology) One of the spaces between the septa in the Anthozoa. 2. (Botany) One of the compartments of a several-celled ovary; loculament.

Locum tenens Lo"cum te"nens [ Latin , holding the place; locus place + tenens , present participle of tenere to hold. Confer Lieutenant .] A substitute or deputy; one filling an office for a time.

Locus Lo"cus noun ; plural Loci , & Loca . [ Latin , place. Confer Allow , Couch , Lieu , Local .] 1. A place; a locality. 2. (Math.) The line traced by a point which varies its position according to some determinate law; the surface described by a point or line that moves according to a given law. Plane locus , a locus that is a straight line, or a circle. -- Solid locus , a locus that is one of the conic sections.

Locust Lo"cust noun [ Latin locusta locust, grasshopper. Confer Lobster .] 1. (Zoology) Any one of numerous species of long-winged, migratory, orthopterous insects, of the family Acrididæ , allied to the grasshoppers; esp., ( Edipoda, or Pachytylus, migratoria , and Acridium perigrinum , of Southern Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the United States the related species with similar habits are usually called grasshoppers . See Grasshopper . » These insects are at times so numerous in Africa and the south of Asia as to devour every green thing; and when they migrate, they fly in an immense cloud. In the United States the harvest flies are improperly called locusts . See Cicada . Locust beetle (Zoology) , a longicorn beetle ( Cyllene robiniæ ), which, in the larval state, bores holes in the wood of the locust tree. Its color is brownish black, barred with yellow. Called also locust borer . -- Locust bird (Zoology) the rose-colored starling or pastor of India. See Pastor . -- Locust hunter (Zoology) , an African bird; the beefeater. 2. [ Etymol. uncertain.] (Botany) The locust tree. See Locust Tree (definition, note, and phrases). Locust bean (Botany) , a commercial name for the sweet pod of the carob tree.

Locust tree Lo"cust tree` [ Etymol. uncertain.] (Botany) A large North American tree of the genus Robinia ( R. Pseudacacia ), producing large slender racemes of white, fragrant, papilionaceous flowers, and often cultivated as an ornamental tree. In England it is called acacia . » The name is also applied to other trees of different genera, especially to those of the genus Hymenæa , of which H. Courbaril is a lofty, spreading tree of South America; also to the carob tree ( Ceratonia siliqua ), a tree growing in the Mediterranean region. Honey locust tree (Botany) , a tree of the genus Gleditschia ) G. triacanthus ), having pinnate leaves and strong branching thorns; -- so called from a sweet pulp found between the seeds in the pods. Called also simply honey locust . -- Water locust tree (Botany) , a small swamp tree ( Gleditschia monosperma ), of the Southern United States.

Locusta Lo·cus"ta noun [ New Latin : confer locuste .] (Botany) The spikelet or flower cluster of grasses. Gray.

Locustella Lo`cus·tel"la noun [ New Latin , from Latin locusta a locust.] (Zoology) The European cricket warbler.

Locustic Lo·cus"tic adjective (Chemistry) Pertaining to, or derived from, the locust; -- formerly used to designate a supposed acid.