lockdown

Etymology

From the verb phrase lock down.

noun

1. The confinement of people in their own rooms (e.g., in a school) or cells (in a prison), or to their own homes or areas (e.g., in the case of a city- or nation-wide issue) as a security measure after or amid a disturbance or as a non-pharmaceutical intervention in a pandemic.
   At the time of writing, no decisions had been made by the Government as to when or how lockdown restrictions might begin to be lifted. However, discussions were taking place in the industry about how social distancing could be maintained on the railway if some patronage were to return soon. May 20 2020, Andrew Haines talks to Stefanie Foster, “Repurpose rail for the 2020s”, in Rail, page 29
   Fans relished the traditional FA Cup fanfare from the Coldstream Guards and the hymn Abide With Me before throwing themselves wholeheartedly into an experience they have been largely deprived of since the first coronavirus lockdown began in March 2020. May 15 2021, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 0-1 Leicester”, in BBC Sport
   When a column of smoke appeared on Thursday over the Sitong Bridge overpass in the Haidian district of Beijing, it drew attention to a protester who had hung banners openly bashing China’s top leader by name and criticizing the country’s “zero Covid” policy, including one calling for “freedom and not lockdowns.” Oct. 14, 2022, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Claire Fu, “China’s Internet Censors Race to Quell Beijing Protest Chatter”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-10-14, Asia Pacific
2. (US) A contrivance to fasten logs together in rafting.
   The rafts were made up of strings of logs about seventeen feet wide, held together by poles across them. Each log was pinned to the poles by wooden pegs and lockdowns. 1931, State University of Iowa. Bureau of Business Research, Iowa studies in business (issues 10-15, page 24)