Meaning & use
air lock
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A small sealed room or chamber that lets people or objects move between areas with different air pressure.
Grammar: Countable: one air lock, two air locks. Often used with 'through': go through an air lock.
Patterns
- go through an air lock
- enter an air lock
- an air lock door
The astronauts waited in the air lock before stepping outside the space station.
The submarine crew passed through the air lock to leave the vessel.
The laboratory has an air lock to keep the clean room free of dust.
nouncountabletechnical
A bubble of air in a pipe or pump that stops liquid from flowing properly.
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'in': an air lock in the pipe.
Patterns
- an air lock in something
- get an air lock
- remove an air lock
The plumber said the radiator wasn't heating because of an air lock in the pipes.
You may need to bleed the pump to clear the air lock.
Word forms
| plural | air locks |
|---|
Common combinations
- air lock door
- The air lock door opened slowly with a hiss.
- through an air lock
- The divers entered the water through an air lock.
- air lock in the pipes
- An air lock in the pipes stopped the water from flowing.
- release the air lock
- The technician released the air lock to let the pressure out.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pressure chamber
- A more general term for any sealed space where pressure is controlled; an air lock is specifically a passage between two such spaces.
- air pocket
- Refers to a trapped bubble of air, especially in liquid; an air lock is a structure or a blockage in a pipe, not just any bubble.
Word family
- airlock noun
- The closed spelling of the same word, common in science fiction and engineering.
Commonly confused: air lock or airlock?
air lock vs airlock
Same meaning, different spelling. 'Air lock' is two words; 'airlock' is one word. Both are correct.
Practice
The astronauts returned to the space station through the ______ after their spacewalk.
Choose one answer.
'Air lock' is the sealed chamber used to move between different air pressures. 'Airline' is a company that flies planes, 'airbag' is a safety device in a car, and 'airway' is a passage for air, so none of those fit the context of a space station entry.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “air lock”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.