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Glite Dictionary
lock chamber

lock chamber

5.8
A part of a canal with gates that raises or lowers boats by changing the water level
  • noun
  • /lɑk ˈtʃeɪmbər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : cámara de esclusa
  • The boat slowly entered the lock chamber to be raised to the next level of the canal.

Examples

  • The lock chamber fills with water as the vessel is elevated to the higher section of the waterway.

  • After waiting for the lock chamber to open, the captain guided the boat safely through.

  • The Panama Canal lock chambers are 305 meters long and 33.5 meters wide, with a largest depth of 12.5 to 13.7 meters.

    Academic text (2008)

Synonyms

lock
vslock chamber
  • Specialized
27 5.5

A part of a canal with gates that raises or lowers boats between different water levels

is the more specific term for an enclosed section with gates at both ends

How Big

sluice
7 7.0
lock chamber
  • Specialized
5.8

Surface Forms

lock chamber singular
lock chambers plural

Morphology

lock + chamber

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'lock' (a gated structure for raising or lowering boats) with 'chamber' (an enclosed space); a learner who knows both constituents can infer this refers to the enclosed section of a canal used to change water level. This is a straightforward noun+noun compounding pattern and is cross-linguistically common, so it should be immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Lock chamber comes from canal work: a chamber is a room-like space between two gates of a lock, where people let water in or out so a boat rises or falls. That's why it means 'a section of a canal used to raise or lower boats'.