lock-in

Deverbal from lock in.

lock-in (plural lock-ins)

1. (US) A sleepover party, usually held in a public place such as a church or school, in which the participants are not allowed to leave until the next morning.

   Synonym: wakeover

   The youth group will have their annual lock-in this weekend.

2. (UK, Ireland) An illegal but widely-tolerated invitation-only gathering in a British pub, after the end of licensing hours, to allow regular customers the opportunity to enjoy further drinking time.
   • 2009, Annette J. Dunlea, Always and Forever, page 53:

     He was a lunatic drunk and started sing songs that lasted into the early hours of the morning and resulted in many weekend lock-ins in the village pub.

3. (law) A situation in which members of an industry have agreed to adopt a certain standard and have retooled their production to meet this standard, thus making it very costly to change to a different standard.

   vendor lock-in

4. (finance) The situation where an investor cannot trade without incurring an undesirable penalty such as taxation.

• Nickol, inlock