Lock

Joni asked about the connection between a lock of hair and a lock used to protect one’s home. There is no direct connection; instead, there are two words with identical spelling.

Lock¹, generally speaking, involves hair or material that resembles hair.

• a tress, the natural division into which hair will clump
• a figurative description of leaves on a tree
• a tuft of wool or cotton
• a small bundle of hay or straw

Lock² , for the most part, involves containment or confinement.

• a device, activated by a key, that employs a bolt to fasten a door.
• a shackle on an animal’s foot designed to prevent it from straying.
• a device to keep a wheel from revolving or turning.
• a mechanism in a firearm for exploding the charge.
• a section of a waterway, such as a canal, closed off with gates, in which vessels in transit are raised or lowered by raising or lowering the water level of that section.
• a chamber for a person to transition between air and water (as in a submarine), or between air and a vacuum (as in a spacecraft).
• an assemblage of objects jammed together.
• a grip in wrestling.
• a secure hold or control of a situation.
• an outcome marked by certitude.

SIDEBAR: Lock4, the band

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