unlock

/ʌnˈlɒk/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/ʌnˈlɔk/

unlock verb: to undo or open a lock or something locked by, for example, turning a key, or selecting a combination.

Verb

unlock (third-person singular simple present unlocks, present participle unlocking, simple past and past participle unlocked)

(transitive) To undo or open a lock or something locked by, for example, turning a key, or selecting a combination.
- I unlocked the door and walked in.
(transitive) To obtain access to something; to meet the requirements of a security or protection system.
- I unlocked the dictionary article so I could edit it.
- This computer game is shareware, but you can pay for a code to unlock the full version.
(transitive) To configure (a mobile phone) so that it is not bound to any particular carrier.
(transitive) To disclose or reveal previously unknown knowledge or potential.
- The discovery of a clue unlocked the mystery.
- Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.2022 April 14, Rupert Neate, quoting Elon Musk, “Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter for more than $40bn”, in The Guardian
(intransitive) To be or become unfastened or unrestrained.
- He had come straight up without mishap or swerving off his course, and his shut teeth unlocked.1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 8, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC
(figuratively, transitive) To make available.
- He also warned of the supply chain issues, stating: "Don't pretend you're going to unlock half a dozen [electrification] schemes simultaneously because you'll probably flood the supply chain, we don't have the capacity."2020 May 20, Richard Clinnick, “Electrification key to decarbonisation”, in Rail, page 16
(transitive) To undermine something that has control over a situation; to find a way to counter or oppose.
- Saka's cross unlocked a well-organised Ukraine defence for Kane to pounce and set England on their way before producing a superb piece of individual skill to effectively end the contest.2023 March 26, Phil McNulty, “England 2-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport

Noun

unlock (plural unlocks)

The act of unlocking something.
- Unlike modern, automated prisons, each cell here was locked and unlocked manually with a large skeleton key. The first duty was to get a proper head count of each inmate, insuring each was alive. Once done, an unlock was conducted.1998, Steven Herberts, The Correctional Officer Inside Prisons, page 38
- The instructions between a lock and an unlock form a critical section.2011, Ganesh Gopalakrishnan, Shaz Qadeer, Computer Aided Verification: 23rd International Conference
An initially hidden feature that is made available to reward the player for some achievement.
- The other unlocks, like a grenade launcher or a sniper's steady ability, didn't fit into my playstyle.2012 October 11, Craig Pearson, “Hands On: Medal Of Honour Warfighter”, in Rock Paper Shotgun
Synonyms:

unlockable

unlock meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

unlock in Hindi

to undo or open a lock: ताला खोलना tālā kholnā

unlock in Tamil

திறக்க, பூட்டவிழ்

unlock in Urdu

to unlock, unbolt: کھولنا kholnā

unlock in Bengali

উদ্ঘাটন করা, উদ্ঘাটিত করা, তালা খুলিয়া ফেলা, ছাড়িয়া দেওয়া

More languagesFewer languages

unlock in Telugu: తాళముతీయు tāḷamutīyu, బీగముతీయు bīgamutīyu
unlock in Malayalam: പൂട്ടുതുറക്കുക, വാതിൽതുറക്കുക, ഓടാമ്പലെടുക്കുക, കൊളുത്തെടുക്കുക
unlock in Kannada: ಬೀಗ ತೆಗೆ, ಬಿಟ್ಟುಬಿಡು, ಹೊರಗೆಡಹು
unlock in Punjabi: ਅਨਲੌਕ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
unlock in Odia: ଅନ୍ଲାକ୍ କରିବାକୁ
unlock in Nepali: ताल्चा खोल्नु tālcā kholnu
unlock in Thai: ไข kǎi
unlock in Vietnamese: mở khóa

Examples of unlock in a sentence

In order to flash a custom ROM to a phone, the boot loader must be unlocked first.
He used a hook-shaped affair with a long handle to unlock the car.
When you have checked in to the site from ten different cities, you unlock the Traveller badge.

All 40 example sentences with unlock

Synonyms of unlock

unlockable

Forms of unlock

Verb
third-person singular present	unlocks
present participle	unlocking
past participle	unlocked
past	unlocked
Noun
plural	unlocks

Past tense of unlock: unlocked

Plural of unlock: unlocks

Origin of unlock

From Middle English unloken, unlouken, onlouken, from Old English onlūcan (“to unlock”), equivalent to un- + lock. Cognate with Dutch ontluiken (“to unlock”).

Words formed from unlock

Words that rhyme with unlock

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about unlock

What does unlock mean?: Unlock means to undo or open a lock or something locked by, for example, turning a key, or selecting a combination.
What is unlock in Hindi?: Unlock in Hindi is ताला खोलना (tālā kholnā). See Unlock meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is unlock?: Unlock can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce unlock?: Unlock is pronounced /ʌnˈlɒk/ (UK).
What is the past tense of unlock?: The past tense of unlock is unlocked.

Words near unlock in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: unlock (page history and authors); unlock (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); کھولنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); unlock (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); తాళముతీయు (Telugu) (page history and authors); unlock (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); unlock (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); unlock (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); unlock (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-unlock.wav.

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