Meaning & use
lock-in
A situation in which a customer or user becomes dependent on a product or service and finds it difficult or costly to switch to another.
See it in a sentence
Signing a five-year contract created a lock-in that limited the company's flexibility.
Software vendors sometimes design systems to create vendor lock-in for their customers.
A note on using this word
Lock-in is common in business and technology contexts, describing dependency created by contracts, switching costs, or proprietary systems.
Words with a similar meaning
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