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lock and load

intj

Etymology

Attested since at least 1793, when a document describes flintlock weapons that are ready to fire as "well locked and loaded". The variant "load(ed) and lock(ed)" is found since at least 1815. The phrase may have originated from the use of gunlocks on naval artillery (in use by the Royal Navy since 1745); as gunlocks were not required for firing (a lintstock could be used) it may have been necessary to specify cannon was "locked" as well as loaded. As an imperative, used since at least 1940, in the U.S. Army Field Manual for the M1 Rifle. Compare e.g. German "laden und sichern" ("load and secure"). Popularized in culture after being used by John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).

  1. derived from "laden und sichern" — “load and secure”

Definitions

  1. A command to prepare a weapon for battle.

    • 1949 — John Wayne in the film Sands of Iwo Jima Lock and load, boy, lock and load.

  2. Prepare for an imminent event.

  3. To prepare one's weapon.

  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. To prepare for an imminent event.

      • It's great to know that city and town governments, all up and down the East Coast, were ready, locked and loaded, to provide bailouts, and this time it was the literal kind.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for lock and load. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA