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)
Kelly Davis, Mercury News, 19 May 2025
This as the Florida GOP sold merchandise celebrating the lockup, which features chain-link enclosures the president said could hold some 10,000 people.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 3 July 2025
The White House similarly promoted the political shock value of sending some immigrants awaiting deportation to a detention lockup in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and others to a megaprison in El Salvador.
—Will Weissert, Chicago Tribune, 1 July 2025
The White House similarly promoted the political shock value of sending some immigrants awaiting deportation from the U.S. to a detention lockup in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and others to a megaprison in El Salvador.
—Adriana Gomez Licon, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock (up)
Noun
Over the next five pages, the girl describes witnessing a friend being beaten by guards at the East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility, one of San Diego’s two juvenile lockups.
—Kelly Davis, Mercury News, 19 May 2025
This as the Florida GOP sold merchandise celebrating the lockup, which features chain-link enclosures the president said could hold some 10,000 people.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 3 July 2025
The White House similarly promoted the political shock value of sending some immigrants awaiting deportation to a detention lockup in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and others to a megaprison in El Salvador.
—Will Weissert, Chicago Tribune, 1 July 2025
The White House similarly promoted the political shock value of sending some immigrants awaiting deportation from the U.S. to a detention lockup in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and others to a megaprison in El Salvador.
—Adriana Gomez Licon, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lock (up)
Verb
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The local imam jailed in Butler County after losing his asylum status has a hearing with a federal immigration judge next week.—
Patricia Gallagher Newberry,
The Enquirer,
14 July 2025
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Davis later violated the terms of his sentence and was jailed for the remainder of his sentence.—
Chantz Martin,
FOXNews.com,
11 July 2025
Noun
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Based on true events, the Gorgona Island prison, 34 miles off the Pacific coast, was once one of the most brutal of tropical penitentiary for murderers, rapists and political prisoners, notorious for its use of torture.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
15 July 2025
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The perspective of the newspapers is also critical because most information about incarceration comes from law enforcement personnel and prison data, which tend to frame prison populations as a singular unit and focus on data instead of people.—
The Editors,
JSTOR Daily,
15 July 2025
Verb
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Iranian director Farsi experienced the revolution at 13, was imprisoned at 16 as a dissident, and left her native Iran at 18.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
10 July 2025
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On the afternoon of July 2, the Phoenix Police Department responded to calls from a woman who reported the details of her assault, kidnapping and threats against her life while physically imprisoned at a home near Interstate 17 and Orangewood Avenue, court documents said.—
Rey Covarrubias Jr,
AZCentral.com,
8 July 2025
Noun
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But local officials and historians have questioned the practical and symbolic implications of converting the island back into a penitentiary.—
Kate Talerico,
Mercury News,
17 July 2025
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Her various occupations, paid and unpaid, included teaching convicts at an area penitentiary and substitute-teaching in junior high.—
Inga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lock (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lock%20%28up%29. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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