Lock In
Verb Phrase · Slang & Abbreviations
Definitions
To commit to a choice, vendor, design, or environment in a way that becomes hard to reverse later. In engineering slang, locking in can be good decisive focus or a warning about future constraints.
In plain English: To commit to a choice in a way that becomes hard to undo later.
Example: "They refused to lock in the storage format until they had tested the migration cost, because undoing that choice later would be expensive and politically painful."