Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A thing in its
entirety , with nothingomitted .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the three principal parts of a flintlock.
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Examples
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chained_bear commented on the word lock, stock and barrel
This phrase actually refers to the parts of a musket: the lock was the firing mechanism, the stock the wooden part that supported the barrel and the lock, and the barrel, of course, is where the musket ball is loaded and fired from.
November 17, 2007
oroboros commented on the word lock, stock and barrel
Also has a mercantile connection: lock (to shop door), stock (inventory) and barrel (cracker barrel in front of wood burner stove).
November 17, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word lock, stock and barrel
Yeah, I never heard that before, but I guess it makes sense. Would that origination also imply the same meaning, though, of a complete something-or-other? The lock, stock, and barrel of a gun are the entire gun. Does the lock, stock, and barrel of a store also imply the entire store?
November 18, 2007
oroboros commented on the word lock, stock and barrel
I believe so. Sort of a version of "everything but the kitchen sink...AND the kitchen sink!"
November 18, 2007