lockin

Noun

lock-in (plural lock-ins)

1. (US) A sleepover party, usually held in a public place such as a church or school, in which the participants are not allowed to leave until the next morning.
   • The youth group will have their annual lock-in this weekend.

   Synonyms:

   wakeover

2. (Ireland, UK) An illegal but widely-tolerated invitation-only gathering in a pub, after the end of licensing hours, to allow regular customers the opportunity to enjoy further drinking time.
   • He was a lunatic drunk and started sing songs that lasted into the early hours of the morning and resulted in many weekend lock-ins in the village pub.2009, Annette J. Dunlea, Always and Forever, page 53
3. A situation in which a business has adopted a certain standard or product from a specific manufacturer and integrated it into their process, thus making it very costly to change to a different standard or supplier.
   • vendor lock-in
4. The situation where an investor cannot trade without incurring an undesirable penalty such as taxation.