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Difficulty: MediumIdioms and Idiomatic Expressions

Complete the sentence below by supplying the correct word that completes the idiomatic expression.

Answer:After several weeks of tense negotiations, the board of directors agreed to sell the struggling enterprise 【lock】, stock, and barrel to an overseas investment conglomerate.

Answer

lock
The expression 'lock, stock, and barrel' is an established English idiom meaning completely or entirely, including every single part. The missing element required to complete this fixed phrase is 'lock'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context of the sentence to identify the targeted idiomatic expression.
The sentence describes the total sale of a company including all its constituent parts, pointing to the fixed idiom 'lock, stock, and barrel'.
Recognizing the contextual meaning of complete ownership transfer helps identify the underlying idiom.
2
Determine the missing word needed to complete the three-part idiomatic structure.
The full expression is 'lock, stock, and barrel'. Thus, the missing word is 'lock'.
Idioms are fixed lexical phrases whose components cannot be arbitrarily substituted.

Key Concept

Completion of fixed idiomatic expressions
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Topics

Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

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