UNLOCK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does unlock mean? 

• UNLOCK (verb)
  The verb UNLOCK has 3 senses:

1. open the lock of

2. set free or release

3. become unlocked

  Familiarity information: UNLOCK used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UNLOCK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they unlock    ... he / she / it unlocks   
Past simple: unlocked   
Past participle: unlocked   
-ing form: unlocking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Open the lock of

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

unlock the door

Hypernyms (to "unlock" is one way to...):

open; open up (cause to open or to become open)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They want to unlock the doors

Antonym:

lock (fasten with a lock)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Set free or release

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "unlock" is one way to...):

disengage; withdraw (release from something that holds fast, connects, or entangles)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become unlocked

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The door unlocked from the inside

Hypernyms (to "unlock" is one way to...):

disengage (become free)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Antonym:

lock (become rigid or immoveable)

lock (fasten with a lock)

 Context examples 

It is not upon this occasion the instrument of evil, but it will rather prove to be the key which will unlock our mystery.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small case-book, which he consulted.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The door at the bottom was closed, but unlocked.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Scientists think these observations could be key to unlocking the secrets of the moon, such as why Ganymede’s auroras are so bright.

(Fresh Results from NASA’s Galileo Spacecraft 20 Years On, NASA)

I always hear him unlock it as I go down the stair after I leave the tray.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To my intense astonishment I saw that it was unlocked.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Or that she should be the first to possess the skill of unlocking a cabinet, the key of which was open to all!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

All you will need is an eclipse to unlock this planetary energy, and you have it, coming as a solar new moon eclipse in Capricorn at four degrees on December 25.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

I said this whilst I knelt down at, and unlocked a trunk which contained a brace of loaded pistols: I mean to shoot myself.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

When activated, they allow electrically charged ions to flow in and out of cells like water through an unlocked canal.

(Eye cells may use math to detect motion, NIH)