as in to jail
to put in or as if in prison
if they catch you, they're going to lock you up and throw away the key!
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
the firm conviction that juvenile offenders should never be held in adult lockups
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lock (up)
Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 25 Feb. 2025
Immigration officials hold around 40,000 detainees in private prisons and local county lockups across the United States.
—Hamed Aleaziz, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2025
Prosecutors hammered him for breaking rules in jail, saying if Combs can’t be trusted in lockup, then he certainly can’t be trusted out on bail — no matter what measures were taken to keep the rapper in check.
—Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
In response, prison agency officials emailed staff at other facilities in search of volunteers from across the country willing to work at the rural New England lockup.
—Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock (up)
Noun
Inmates at Collins Correctional Facility, one of the places where the strike started, were being bussed to other lockups.
—Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 25 Feb. 2025
Immigration officials hold around 40,000 detainees in private prisons and local county lockups across the United States.
—Hamed Aleaziz, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2025
Prosecutors hammered him for breaking rules in jail, saying if Combs can’t be trusted in lockup, then he certainly can’t be trusted out on bail — no matter what measures were taken to keep the rapper in check.
—Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024
In response, prison agency officials emailed staff at other facilities in search of volunteers from across the country willing to work at the rural New England lockup.
—Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lock (up)
Verb
-
What happened to the Hollywood Ten, a group of producers, directors and screenwriters who were jailed and blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947?—
Sara Georgini,
Smithsonian Magazine,
1 Apr. 2025
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Trump’s reign of terror recalls a shameful chapter in our history: The alien and sedition acts of 1798, under which journalists were jailed for criticizing President John Adams.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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His lawyers said Mahdi's original attorneys put on a shallow case trying to spare his life that didn't call on relatives, teachers or others who knew him and ignored the impact of months spent in solitary confinement in prison as a teen.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2025
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Alexander Smirnov was sentenced to six years in prison in January after pleading guilty to lying to his FBI handler about the Biden family's ties to a Ukrainian energy company -- in addition to a series of unrelated tax fraud charges.—
Alexander Mallin,
ABC News,
11 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Union leaders and journalists who criticized Bukele have also been imprisoned.—
Gisela Salim-Peyer,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2025
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He is imprisoned in El Salvador, where he was sent with other migrants accused of being gang members.—
Albert Sun,
New York Times,
9 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The money will help sustain El Salvador’s penitentiary system, which currently costs $200 million a year.—
Michael Rios,
CNN,
17 Mar. 2025
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In Oklahoma, 56-year-old Wendell Grissom was declared dead by lethal injection at the penitentiary in McAlester at 10:13 a.m.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
21 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lock (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lock%20%28up%29. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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