The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
LOCK
Definition of LOCK
noun
Something used for fastening, which can only be opened with a key or combination.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English lok, from Old English loc, from Proto-West Germanic *lok, from Proto-Germanic *luką from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (“to bend; turn”). Cognate with Cimbrian loch, lòch (“hole”), Dutch lok (“hole”), German Loch (“hole”), German Low German Lock (“hole”), Luxembourgish Lach (“hole”), Vilamovian łöch (“hole”), Yiddish לאָך (lokh, “hole”), Danish låg (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Bokmål lokk (“lid, cover”), Norwegian Nynorsk lok, lokk (“lid, cover”). The verb is from Middle English locken, lokken, louken, from Old English lūcan, Proto-West Germanic *lūkan, from Proto-Germanic *lūkaną. Cognate with Dutch luiken (“to close, to shut”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål lukke (“to close, to shut”), Faroese lúka (“to end, to finish”), Icelandic ljúka (“to close, to shut”), Norwegian Nynorsk lukka (“to close, to shut”). Related to luxe via Latin.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
LOCK in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 12 boards so far. 23 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 7, 28 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 117, 14 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 5 days.
First found by a player on Day 7, 28 May 2026.
Built from these letters
LOCK starts with L and ends with K. Sorted, its letters read CKLO - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start LOCK
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found LOCK?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 7 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER