Meanings
alternative Davy Jones' locker · alternative Davy Jones locker · alternative Davey Jones's locker · alternative Davey Jones' locker · alternative Davey Jones locker · alternative Davie Jones's locker · alternative Davie Jones' locker · alternative Davie Jones locker · alternative Davy's locker · alternative Davey's locker · alternative Davie's locker
- idiomaticnauticalThe bottom of the sea, seen as a grave for sailors and the resting place of anything that goes overboard and is lost.
... are discovered singing a melancholy duet, bewailing the loss of an honest tar, whom they suppose (to use the burthen of the song) "is in Davy Jones's locker."
1781 August, Isaac Kimber, Edward Kimber, “The Summer Theatre”, in The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer, volume 50, page 3601 more example
"Damn my eyes," says he, "they are gone to Davy Jones's locker." NOTE: Partridge erroneously refers to this as from the journal of Richard rather than Nicholas Cresswell.
1774, Nicholas Cresswell, The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774-7
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe bottom of a sea or ocean
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
There has been much speculation about the origin of this term, but none have been substantiated. See more at Davy Jones' Locker on Wikipedia.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish Ahdin valtakunta
- Ahdin valtakuntathe ocean as a grave for sailors
French le grand bouillon
- le grand bouillonthe ocean as a grave for sailors
German Grab in Meerestiefe
- Grab in Meerestiefethe ocean as a grave for sailors
Italian Lo scrigno di Davy Jones
- Lo scrigno di Davy Jonesthe ocean as a grave for sailors
Russian могила моряков
- могила моряков (mogíla morjakóv)the ocean as a grave for sailors
Spanish el fondo del mar
- el fondo del marthe ocean as a grave for sailors
Cite this entry
Davy Jones's locker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Davy%20Jones's%20locker
“Davy Jones's locker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Davy%20Jones's%20locker. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Davy Jones's locker,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Davy%20Jones's%20locker.
Source: Davy Jones's locker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.