Definition

Noun: A sealed chamber with two or more doors, which permits passage between spaces of differing air pressure, especially between a pressurized environment and normal atmospheric pressure. It is designed to allow people or objects to pass through while minimizing the exchange of air.

Usage

An air lock is used to maintain a pressure seal. One door is opened to enter the chamber from one environment; that door is sealed before the opposite door is opened to exit into the other environment. This prevents the direct mixing of gases or loss of pressure.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The divers entered the decompression chamber through the submarine's air lock.
  • Before entering the cleanroom, technicians must pass through an air lock to prevent contamination.
  • The spacecraft's air lock allowed the astronauts to exit for a spacewalk.

Advanced Usage

• "to be in an air lock": To be situated within the transitional chamber itself.
  • The crew waited in the air lock for pressure to equalize.

Variants and Related Words

• Airlock: A common alternative spelling, written as one word.
• Decompression chamber: A specific type of air lock used to gradually adjust pressure for divers.
• Vestibule: In some technical contexts, a general term for a small entrance room, but not specific to pressure control.

Synonyms

• Pressure chamber: A general term for a chamber designed to withstand pressure differences.
• Lock chamber: A term used in engineering contexts, particularly for water locks, but conceptually similar.

Related Phrases

• To cycle the air lock: To go through the process of equalizing pressure in the chamber.
  • We need to cycle the air lock before the next team can enter the lab.

Noun

1. a chamber that provides access to space where air is under pressure