Word.ws English Dictionary

locking horns

locking horns is the present participle and gerund of lock horns.

Meaning of lock horns

Verb

lock horns (third-person singular simple present locks horns, present participle locking horns, simple past and past participle locked horns)

  1. (idiomatic) To come into conflict.
    Synonyms:
    cross swords

Questions about locking horns

What is locking horns the present participle and gerund of?
Locking horns is the present participle and gerund of lock horns.

Words near locking horns in the dictionary

  1. locking differentials
  2. locking down
  3. locking eyes
  4. locking frame
  5. locking frames
  6. locking horns
  7. locking in
  8. locking into
  9. locking lips
  10. locking off
  11. locking on

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: locking horns (page history and authors); lock horns (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “locking horns.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/locking_horns. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.