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)
Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
Investors holding just over half of Figma's outstanding Class A stock have agreed to an extended lockup, with the final 35% of their shares expiring in August 2026.
—Jordan Novet, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
The Chrisley family's grand return to TV after Todd and Julie's pardon releases from prison is marred by family strife that grew during the years of lockup.
—Ryan Coleman September 2, EW.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Since that peak, CoreWeave’s stock price has steadily dropped, in part because of the end of the lockup period that allowed early investors to sell their shares.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock (up)
Noun
Phil tells Johnny that Blackie met Allen in lockup, too, and Allen is bad news.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025
Investors holding just over half of Figma's outstanding Class A stock have agreed to an extended lockup, with the final 35% of their shares expiring in August 2026.
—Jordan Novet, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
The Chrisley family's grand return to TV after Todd and Julie's pardon releases from prison is marred by family strife that grew during the years of lockup.
—Ryan Coleman September 2, EW.com, 2 Sep. 2025
Since that peak, CoreWeave’s stock price has steadily dropped, in part because of the end of the lockup period that allowed early investors to sell their shares.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock (up)
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lock (up)
Verb
-
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, arrives at court as lawyers push to persuade the judge overseeing his fraud case not to jail him ahead of trial, at a courthouse in New York, August 11, 2023.—
Dawn Giel,Dan Mangan,
CNBC,
4 Nov. 2025
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Davis later violated the terms of his sentence and was jailed for the remainder of it.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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This was also when a torture scandal emerged at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison.—
Ben Wedeman,
CNN Money,
5 Nov. 2025
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Though there’s no new material in the reissue, reheating her own nachos for a new generation should be a piece of cake for Martha Stewart, who allegedly made flan in prison one time.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Some years after defeating Ganon, Link and Zelda stumble across an underground tomb where the decrepit corpse of the villain’s human form, Ganondorf (played again by Critical Role’s Matt Mercer), is imprisoned.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
4 Nov. 2025
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Starring Daniel Chen and based on Chen’s life, Bad Boy tells the story of Dean, who is imprisoned in a cruel juvenile detention facility.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Meanwhile, his crooked sidekick, Robertson, BOP # 21731-509, is locked up in another good-time penitentiary in Beckley, WV.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Portlaoise Prison, which is in the center of Ireland, is a nineteenth-century penitentiary built like a fortress—a one-star establishment, at best.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lock (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lock%20%28up%29. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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