lock screen

noun

A screen displayed by a computer or mobile device left unattended, requiring the user to perform a certain action to regain access.

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Meanings

nounlock screen (plural lock screens)

plural lock screens

  1. A screen displayed by a computer or mobile device left unattended, requiring the user to perform a certain action to regain access.

    Take down any pictures, change your lock screen, and put all your cute couple selfies in a “do not open” folder. Then, you know…actually don’t open it.

    2023 October 23, Rachel Varina, “How to Get Over a Breakup So You Can *Actually* Move On and Heal”, in Cosmopolitan

Origin

From lock + screen.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

lock screen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lock%20screen

MLA

“lock screen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lock%20screen. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lock screen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lock%20screen.

Source: lock screen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.