caps lock
noun
: a function on a computer keyboard that mimics the effect of holding down a shift key
Depending on the way the terminal or keyboard is designed, when caps lock is in effect the shift key may be ignored or it may cause a reverse shift: when the caps lock is in effect, the shift key puts letters back into lowercase. 
Infoworld
Infoworld
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Sections are told entirely via email, or as an increasingly unhinged handbook for prospective female spies; another pours out in the breathless confessional rush of a teenage girl with one finger on the caps lock key. Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 6 Apr. 2022 For the caps lock crowd, a sequence of big, blocky letter-shapes can feel triumphal, or boisterous, or rude, or needy. Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2021 This is not to diminish the dynamism and range present in his oeuvre of soaring anthems so much as to say that a Steinman track starts in caps lock and usually builds to CAPS LOCK BOLD, ITALIC, UNDERLINED, or ALL THREE. Tres Dean, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2021 In this online community, turning off the caps lock is optional, and rocket emojis are mandatory. Charley Grant, WSJ, 19 Feb. 2021 Actor Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks, busted out the caps lock for his condemnation. Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2020 The promo video that dropped a few days before the song’s release featured names like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Halsey in enormous, caps lock, pastel letters for crying out loud. Billboard Staff, Billboard, 30 Apr. 2019 The caps lock key is half size, the arrow keys are surrounded by home and end keys, and worst of all, the delete key is found right next to the backspace key, with no space between them. Dan Seifert, The Verge, 2 Aug. 2019 During the Civil War era, one of the pistol’s flintlocks was switched out for a cap lock in an effort to modernize them. Matt Blitz, Popular Mechanics, 6 June 2018 See More
Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 6 Apr. 2022 For the caps lock crowd, a sequence of big, blocky letter-shapes can feel triumphal, or boisterous, or rude, or needy. Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2021 This is not to diminish the dynamism and range present in his oeuvre of soaring anthems so much as to say that a Steinman track starts in caps lock and usually builds to CAPS LOCK BOLD, ITALIC, UNDERLINED, or ALL THREE. Tres Dean, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2021 In this online community, turning off the caps lock is optional, and rocket emojis are mandatory. Charley Grant, WSJ, 19 Feb. 2021 Actor Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks, busted out the caps lock for his condemnation. Barbara Vandenburgh, USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2020 The promo video that dropped a few days before the song’s release featured names like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Halsey in enormous, caps lock, pastel letters for crying out loud. Billboard Staff, Billboard, 30 Apr. 2019 The caps lock key is half size, the arrow keys are surrounded by home and end keys, and worst of all, the delete key is found right next to the backspace key, with no space between them. Dan Seifert, The Verge, 2 Aug. 2019 During the Civil War era, one of the pistol’s flintlocks was switched out for a cap lock in an effort to modernize them. Matt Blitz, Popular Mechanics, 6 June 2018 See More Word History
First Known Use
1984, in the meaning defined above