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)
Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2025
However, she was forced to report to a minimum-security lockup in Texas nearly 17 months later, even while her appeal was heard.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 25 Feb. 2025
DeWine also said Ohio needs to do more work to divert people with mental illness or drug addiction to treatment, rather than lockups.
—Laura A. Bischoff, The Enquirer, 27 Dec. 2024
The smarmy billionaire explains that spending three months in lockup cost him everything.
—Sara Netzley, EW.com, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock (up)
Noun
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
However, she was forced to report to a minimum-security lockup in Texas nearly 17 months later, even while her appeal was heard.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 25 Feb. 2025
DeWine also said Ohio needs to do more work to divert people with mental illness or drug addiction to treatment, rather than lockups.
—Laura A. Bischoff, The Enquirer, 27 Dec. 2024
The smarmy billionaire explains that spending three months in lockup cost him everything.
—Sara Netzley, EW.com, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lock (up)
Verb
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Some of Trump’s loudest supporters seemed unsurprised that some of those swept up in deportations and jailed in El Salvador had no criminal record.—
Brian Bennett,
TIME,
21 Mar. 2025
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The fact these losers want to jail Andrew and Tristan Tate for preaching their version of traditional masculinity highlights the fact that these fascist feminists are fragile weaklings incapable of defending their position in the free marketplace of ideas.—
David Catanese,
Miami Herald,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Three days later, his immigration attorney was able to reach an ICE official who confirmed that his client was in a prison in another country.—
Brian Bennett,
TIME,
21 Mar. 2025
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One of the five men convicted in the 2022 drugging and robbery of patrons at gay bars in Manhattan was slapped with eight years in prison on Thursday.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The gang started as an organizing structure for men imprisoned during a period of mass incarceration that began under former President Hugo Chavez, Hanson told USA TODAY.—
Will Carless,
USA Today,
28 Mar. 2025
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None of the people imprisoned at the facility survived the blaze, Military.com reported.—
Kerry Breen,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
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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
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Salvador's Presidency Press Office via AFP - Getty Images Origins in prison Tren de Aragua began in the 2000s in a notorious penitentiary in north-central Venezuela, where gang leaders at one point had their own zoo, nightclub and bank inside the prison.—
David Noriega,
NBC News,
18 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lock (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lock%20%28up%29. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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