Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A protocol followed in an emergency that involves confining people in a secure place, such as the confinement of prison inmates in cells after a disturbance, or the locking of students and teachers in classrooms after a violent attack.
  • noun A situation in which this protocol is undertaken.
  • noun A facility, such as a prison, where people considered to be dangerous are locked inside living quarters or otherwise confined.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The confinement of people in their own rooms (or cells) as a security measure after a disturbance
  • noun US A contrivance to fasten logs together in rafting.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From lock +‎ down

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Examples

  • He never really had to go into what I call lockdown.

    DRIVEN FROM WITHIN MICHAEL JORDAN 2005

  • He never really had to go into what I call lockdown.

    DRIVEN FROM WITHIN MICHAEL JORDAN 2005

  • He never really had to go into what I call lockdown.

    DRIVEN FROM WITHIN MICHAEL JORDAN 2005

  • And the school is under what they call lockdown, with no one being allowed in or out of the school.

    CNN Transcript Sep 4, 2001 2001

  • Not surprisingly, shortly after Google+ made its debut, Zuckerberg flipped on a pink neon sign at headquarters with the word lockdown, signaling that employees were on notice to work around the clock on, among other things, replicating some of the most praised Google+ features.

    CNN.com 2011

  • What would you do if you had been mistaken for an illegal immigrant on Friday night and spent the entire weekend in lockdown with a bunch of crazy criminals a couple of which might have beaten you up at some point during the weekend.

    Think Progress » Obama: ‘Irresponsible’ Arizona Immigration Bill ‘Threatens To Undermine Basic Notions Of Fairness’ 2010

  • Urumqi in lockdown after Uighurs riot (The Australian)

    Uighur riots in Urumqi 2009

  • Urumqi in lockdown after Uighurs riot (The Australian)

    Archive 2009-07-01 2009

  • With their first-round pick, they took Georgia Tech guard Iman Shumpert, who is known as a lockdown defender.

    Next Up for the Knicks? Fill a Roster Kevin Clark 2011

  • WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Republican National Committee was placed in lockdown for 1.5 hours Tuesday afternoon after a suspicious package was discovered in the mailroom.

    Suspicious package closes RNC 2009

  • Lockdown is defined by Collins as “the imposition of stringent restrictions on travel, social interaction, and access to public spaces”, and its usage has boomed over the last year.

    Lockdown named word of the year by Collins Dictionary Alison Flood 2020

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