Dictionary

box and lock en · VERB

Etymology

From the directive to keep firearms in a box that is locked so that they are only available under considered circumstances and to authorized users.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, informal) To suppress or hide (something) so that it is not readily available or capable of action.
   • No questions asked, shut the actual fuck up, box and lock. 2020, Becky Manawatu, Auē, page 188:
   • There's no need for me to keep holding back from him, to keep that part of me boxed and locked up tight. 2016, Marquita Valentine, After We Fall: A Take the Fall Novel:
   • Eventually, the belief becomes boxed and locked away from general access. 2006, Tim Gooding, The Emergence of Us, page 106:
   • Structural racism and its monopolies have "boxed and locked” Black people. 2000, Claud Anderson, PowerNomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America, page 25:
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see box, lock.

Forms