lock out

lock out (plural lock outs)

1. An event in which an employer bars employees from working as a tactic in negotiating terms of employment, particularly in response to a strike or threat to strike.

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

1. To prevent from entering a place, particularly oneself, inadvertently.

   I've locked myself out of my room again

2. (computing) To prevent from accessing a data structure.

   The synchronize keyword locks out all other threads trying to access the object

• lock in