as in jailing
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
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for locking (up)
Verb
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Diversion program 8 years old California’s mental health diversion program was enacted in 2018 under the argument that jailing the mentally ill only makes their condition worse and does not prevent them from committing more crimes upon their release.—
Tony Saavedra,
Oc Register,
12 Apr. 2026 -
No such rules appear to exist for Saudi Arabia, whose leaders have been accused of arbitrarily arresting, jailing and torturing people who speak out against the government.—
Lia Russell,
Sacbee.com,
9 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile, the Iranian regime’s very recent and brutal crackdown on its own people — imprisoning and killing thousands of citizens for dissent — has not been met with the same outrage by these voices.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2026
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Noem seemed to relish cruelty, and treated her job like a costume party, constantly mugging for cameras with guns and faux toughness as if the dismantling of lives and imprisoning even children was a game.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Those formative years interning at the DA’s office sent her on a journey into Big Law, then multimillion-dollar legal entrepreneurship.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
5 Apr. 2026
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Arellano joined the brand after interning and working his way into a full-time role, learning production before moving into design.—
J.M. Banks
March 21,
Kansas City Star,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Officials reinforced stay-at-home orders by erecting fences around some apartment buildings, essentially incarcerating occupants.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
1 Apr. 2026
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In 1942, as the government was forcibly relocating and incarcerating Japanese Americans on the West Coast, a nativist group hoped to revoke the citizenship of Japanese Americans born in the United States.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA Today,
28 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Locking (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/locking%20%28up%29. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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