padlock Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a detachable lock; has a hinged shackle that can be passed through the staple of a hasp or the links in a chain and then snapped shut
  2. verb fasten with a padlock

WordNet

Pad"lock` noun
Etymology
Perh. orig., a lock for a pad gate, or a gate opening to a path, or perh., a lock for a basket or pannier, and from Prov. E. pad a pannier. Cf. Pad a path, Paddler.
Definitions
  1. A portable lock with a bow which is usually jointed or pivoted at one end so that it can be opened, the other end being fastened by the bolt, -- used for fastening by passing the bow through a staple over a hasp or through the links of a chain, etc.
  2. Fig.: A curb; a restraint.
Pad"lock` transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Padlocked ; present participle & verbal noun Padlocking
Definitions
  1. To fasten with, or as with, a padlock; to stop; to shut; to confine as by a padlock. Milton. Tennyson.

Webster 1913