Airlock vs. Vestibule — What's the Difference?

An airlock, air-lock or air lock, often abbreviated to just lock, is a compartment with doors which can be sealed against pressure which permits the passage of people and objects between environments of differing pressure or atmospheric composition while minimizing the change of pressure in the adjoining spaces and mixing of environments. The lock consists of a relatively small chamber with two airtight doors in series which do not open simultaneously.

A small entrance hall or passage between the outer door and the interior of a house or building.

An airtight chamber, usually located between two regions of unequal pressure, in which air pressure can be regulated.

An enclosed area at the end of a passenger car on a railroad train.

A bubble or pocket of air or vapor, as in a pipe, that stops the normal flow of fluid through the conducting part.

(Anatomy) A body cavity, chamber, or channel that leads to or is an entrance to another body cavity

A sealed, airtight chamber, such as in a manned spacecraft or submarine, used to provide access to and from the sealed area without allowing air out or water in.

(architecture) A small entrance hall, antechamber, passage, or room between the outer door and the main hall, lobby, or interior of a building.

A vestibule, foyer or entranceway with doors to the exterior on one end and doors to the interior on the other, functioning to keep indoor and outdoor air, humidity, and air temperatures separate.

(architecture) A large entrance hall in a temple or palace.

Alternative form of air lock

(rail transport) An enclosed entrance at the end of a railway passenger car.

A chamber that provides access to space where air is under pressure

(anatomy) Any of a number of body cavities or channels, serving as or resembling an entrance to another bodily space.

The central cavity of the bony labyrinth of the inner ear or the parts (such as the saccule and utricle) of the membranous labyrinth that it contains.

The part of the left ventricle below the aortic orifice.

The part of the mouth outside the teeth and gums.

Clip of vulval vestibule: the space in the vulva between the labia minora and into which both the urethra and vagina open.

(transitive) To furnish with a vestibule or vestibules.

The porch or entrance into a house; a hall or antechamber next the entrance; a lobby; a porch; a hall.

To furnish with a vestibule or vestibules.

A large entrance or reception room or area

Any of various bodily cavities leading to another cavity (as of the ear or vagina)