a way of marching in very close file, in which the leg of each person moves with and closely behind the corresponding leg of the person ahead.
a rigidly inflexible pattern or process.
adjective
rigidly inflexible: a lockstep educational curriculum.
Origin of lockstep
First recorded in 1795–1805; lock1 + step
Words nearby lockstep
lock rail, lockram, lock seam, lockset, locksmith, lockstep, lock stitch, lock, stock, and barrel, lock the barn door after the horse has bolted, lockup, lock washer
Yet they cannot reasonably believe that the rest of America will march in lockstep with them.
Obama Can Speak to His Base, but Other Americans Want More|Lloyd Green|May 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And demand (and sales) tends to rise in lockstep with the economy.
Solar Power Burns Old Utilities’ Business Models|Daniel Gross|April 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When a community is in the grips of a siege mentality, that sort of lockstep friendship may seem appealing.
Canadian PM Stephen Harper Displays Lockstep Friendship With Israel at JNF Dinner|Mira Sucharov|December 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
What we were again thinking was here again are two characters who have for the most part been in lockstep for two years.
‘Homeland’ Showrunner: ‘We Knew We Had to Plot a New Course’|Andrew Romano|September 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And as waves, they will produce characteristic interference patterns caused by waves arriving out of step or in lockstep.
The Big Idea: Werner Loewenstein’s ‘Physics in Mind’|Werner Loewenstein|February 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
If Julius Caysar was alive to-day he'd be doin' a lockstep down in Joliet.
Mr. Dooley Says|Finley Dunne
The lever is pulled, my cell unlocked, and with a dozen other men I am marched to the clothes-room, in single file and lockstep.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
I've thought iv thim whin th' lockstep was goin' in to dinner, an' prayed f'r th' day whin I might see ye again.
Mr. Dooley: In the Hearts of His Countrymen|Finley Peter Dunne
Breakfast is over; the lines form in lockstep, and march to the shops.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
Often enough it is the choice of the gun on the shoulder, or, by and by, the stripes on the back in the lockstep gang.
The Battle with the Slum|Jacob A. Riis.
British Dictionary definitions for lockstep
lockstep
/ (ˈlɒkˌstɛp) /
noun
a method of marching in step such that the men follow one another as closely as possible
mainlyUS and Canadiana standard procedure that is closely, often mindlessly, followed
in lockstep withprogressing at exactly the same speed and in the same direction as other people or things, esp as a matter of course rather than by choice