lockup

noun

lock·​up ˈläk-ˌəp 

1

: jail

especially : a local jail where persons are detained prior to court hearing

2

: an act of locking : the state of being locked

Synonyms

• jail
• prison
• penitentiary

Examples of lockup in a Sentence

the firm conviction that juvenile offenders should never be held in adult lockups

Recent Examples on the Web

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

The White House similarly floated sending some immigrants awaiting deportation to a detention lockup in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and others to a megaprison in El Salvador. —Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1746, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for lockup

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• makeup
• markup
• pickup

Kids Definition

lockup

noun

lock·​up -ˌəp 

: prison sense 2, jail

Legal Definition

lockup

noun

lock·​up

1

: a cell or group of cells (as in a courthouse) or jail where persons are held prior to a court hearing compare house of correction, house of detention, jail, penitentiary, prison

2

: the tactic of arranging with a friendly party an option to buy a valuable portion of one's corporate assets in order to discourage a takeover by another party