lock and load

🗺️ Regional & Other

3 definitions

Share WhatsApp

0—

#1·11h ago

(US, slang) To prepare for an imminent event.

Was this helpful?

Comments (0)

No comments yet — say something.

0—

#2·11h ago

(US, slang) Prepare for an imminent event.

: Lock and load, boy, lock and load.

Origin: 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 se. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Was this helpful?

Comments (0)

No comments yet — say something.

0—

#3·11h ago

(US, slang) To prepare one's weapon.

Was this helpful?

Comments (0)

No comments yet — say something.

Have a better definition?

Add your own interpretation of "lock and load".

Add definition

🗺️About Regional & Other slang

Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.

See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.