What does antilock mean?
"Antilock" is an adjective describing a braking system designed to stop a vehicle's wheels from locking up under heavy braking. When a driver slams on conventional brakes, locked wheels can skid, robbing the car of steering control; an antilock system senses imminent lockup and rapidly pulses or modulates the brake pressure at each wheel, keeping them turning so the driver can still steer around hazards. In practice the word almost always appears directly before a noun, most often as "antilock brakes" or "antilock braking system," the latter commonly abbreviated to ABS and now mandatory or standard on virtually all modern cars. The word carries no emotional connotation; it is purely technical, appearing in automotive manuals, safety literature, and consumer reviews. Its everyday usefulness lies in understanding vehicle safety features and interpreting that characteristic pedal vibration felt when ABS engages during an emergency stop.
adjectiveDesigned to prevent the wheels of a vehicle from locking up during braking, especially referring to an automatic braking system that modulates brake pressure to maintain traction.
- Describing a vehicle braking system that prevents wheel lockup by automatically modulating brake pressure, preserving steering control during hard braking.
"The car came with antilock brakes as standard equipment."
"All new models come fitted with an antilock braking system as standard."
"The truck's antilock brakes allowed the driver to swerve while braking hard on the wet road."
That pulsing feeling in your brake pedal during a hard stop isn't a malfunction — it's the antilock system saving your steering.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of antilock
The word is a modern compound of two elements: the prefix "anti-", borrowed from Greek via Latin meaning "against" or "opposed to," joined to "lock," an Old English-rooted word for a fastening mechanism. As automotive engineering developed in the twentieth century, engineers formed terms like this by attaching "anti-" to whatever hazard a technology counteracted. It emerged as vehicles gained computerized brake modulation systems in the latter half of the century, alongside related coinages such as "antiskid" and "antistall."
How antilock is actually used
Almost always used attributively before a noun (as in 'antilock brakes' or 'antilock braking system'); it rarely stands alone as a predicate adjective. The abbreviation ABS is far more common in everyday speech and technical contexts.
Easily confused with antilock
Anti-lock is simply the hyphenated spelling variant of the same term; both refer to the same braking technology.