"lock and load" meaning in English

See lock and load in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Interjection

Audio: En-au-lock and load.ogg
Etymology: Attested since at least 1793, when a document describes flintlock weapons that are ready to fire as "well locked and loaded". The variant "load(ed) and lock(ed)" is found since at least 1815. The phrase may have originated from the use of gunlocks on naval artillery (in use by the Royal Navy since 1745); as gunlocks were not required for firing (a lintstock could be used) it may have been necessary to specify cannon was "locked" as well as loaded. As an imperative, used since at least 1940, in the U.S. Army Field Manual for the M1 Rifle. Compare e.g. German "laden und sichern" ("load and secure"). Popularized in culture after being used by John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).
  1. (US, slang) A command to prepare a weapon for battle. Tags: US, slang
    Sense id: en-lock_and_load-en-intj-cwEPxsVz Categories (other): American English, English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 25 30 25
  2. (US, slang) Prepare for an imminent event. Tags: US, slang
    Sense id: en-lock_and_load-en-intj-bIgxZbOz Categories (other): American English, English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 25 30 25

Verb

Audio: En-au-lock and load.ogg Forms: locks and loads [present, singular, third-person], locking and loading [participle, present], locked and loaded [participle, past], locked and loaded [past]
Etymology: Attested since at least 1793, when a document describes flintlock weapons that are ready to fire as "well locked and loaded". The variant "load(ed) and lock(ed)" is found since at least 1815. The phrase may have originated from the use of gunlocks on naval artillery (in use by the Royal Navy since 1745); as gunlocks were not required for firing (a lintstock could be used) it may have been necessary to specify cannon was "locked" as well as loaded. As an imperative, used since at least 1940, in the U.S. Army Field Manual for the M1 Rifle. Compare e.g. German "laden und sichern" ("load and secure"). Popularized in culture after being used by John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). Head templates: {{en-verb|lock<> and load<>}} lock and load (third-person singular simple present locks and loads, present participle locking and loading, simple past and past participle locked and loaded)
  1. (US, slang) To prepare one's weapon. Tags: US, slang
    Sense id: en-lock_and_load-en-verb-U6UjG2fR Categories (other): American English, English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 25 30 25
  2. (US, slang) To prepare for an imminent event. Tags: US, slang
    Sense id: en-lock_and_load-en-verb-RmDEcM4d Categories (other): American English, English coordinated pairs, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English coordinated pairs: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 19 25 30 26 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 20 25 30 25
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: loaded for bear

Inflected forms

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  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least 1793, when a document describes flintlock weapons that are ready to fire as \"well locked and loaded\". The variant \"load(ed) and lock(ed)\" is found since at least 1815. The phrase may have originated from the use of gunlocks on naval artillery (in use by the Royal Navy since 1745); as gunlocks were not required for firing (a lintstock could be used) it may have been necessary to specify cannon was \"locked\" as well as loaded.\nAs an imperative, used since at least 1940, in the U.S. Army Field Manual for the M1 Rifle. Compare e.g. German \"laden und sichern\" (\"load and secure\"). Popularized in culture after being used by John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).",
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          "text": "1949 — John Wayne in the film Sands of Iwo Jima\nLock and load, boy, lock and load."
        }
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      "glosses": [
        "Prepare for an imminent event."
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      "links": [
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        "(US, slang) Prepare for an imminent event."
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{
  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least 1793, when a document describes flintlock weapons that are ready to fire as \"well locked and loaded\". The variant \"load(ed) and lock(ed)\" is found since at least 1815. The phrase may have originated from the use of gunlocks on naval artillery (in use by the Royal Navy since 1745); as gunlocks were not required for firing (a lintstock could be used) it may have been necessary to specify cannon was \"locked\" as well as loaded.\nAs an imperative, used since at least 1940, in the U.S. Army Field Manual for the M1 Rifle. Compare e.g. German \"laden und sichern\" (\"load and secure\"). Popularized in culture after being used by John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "locks and loads",
      "tags": [
        "present",
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    },
    {
      "form": "locking and loading",
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    {
      "form": "locked and loaded",
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    {
      "form": "locked and loaded",
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        "To prepare one's weapon."
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          "ref": "2015, Fay Jacobs, Time Fries!: Aging Gracelessly in Rehoboth Beach, page 67:",
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          "type": "quote"
        }
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      "glosses": [
        "To prepare for an imminent event."
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      "id": "en-lock_and_load-en-verb-RmDEcM4d",
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  "etymology_text": "Attested since at least 1793, when a document describes flintlock weapons that are ready to fire as \"well locked and loaded\". The variant \"load(ed) and lock(ed)\" is found since at least 1815. The phrase may have originated from the use of gunlocks on naval artillery (in use by the Royal Navy since 1745); as gunlocks were not required for firing (a lintstock could be used) it may have been necessary to specify cannon was \"locked\" as well as loaded.\nAs an imperative, used since at least 1940, in the U.S. Army Field Manual for the M1 Rifle. Compare e.g. German \"laden und sichern\" (\"load and secure\"). Popularized in culture after being used by John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).",
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Download raw JSONL data for lock and load meaning in English (4.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.