air lock

noun

1

: an intermediate chamber with two airtight doors or openings to permit passage between two dissimilar spaces (such as two places of unequal atmospheric pressure)

2

: a stoppage of flow caused by air being in a part where liquid ought to circulate

Examples of air lock in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The space station has special air locks where astronauts can undergo a rapid pre-breathing process before beginning their spacewalks. —Jackie Wattles, CNN, 11 Sep. 2024

Almost six hours after their experiment had begun, McCandless and Stewart clambered back inside the spacecraft, sealed the door of the air lock behind them and removed their helmets. —Adam Higginbotham, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2024

Photos: Glen Benson/NASA Each side of the umbilical contains a set of doors that acts sort of like an air lock, to keep out the dust. —IEEE Spectrum, 30 Oct. 2018

The node would be attached to that section and would allow additional visiting vehicles to dock to the station—and have an air lock that the astronauts would use to enter and exit for work outside the station. —Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Mar. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1840, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

air lock

noun

: an air space with two airtight doors that permits movement between two spaces with different pressures or different temperatures