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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But a federal lawsuit argues authorities are regularly jailing and deporting immigrants who are survivors of human trafficking, domestic abuse and other crimes.—
Julia Marnin,
Sacbee.com,
20 Oct. 2025 -
The state can fairly easily police the requirement that Max be installed on new phones by threatening phone companies that don’t comply or even jailing their executives.—
Justin Sherman,
The Atlantic,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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There’s a whole history, actually, of how the Pentagon responded to the epidemic within its ranks, first by imprisoning infected men.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
17 Oct. 2025
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The United States began seizing church property and imprisoning polygamist leaders, coercing church president Wilford Woodruff to end official support for polygamy in 1890.—
Konden Smith Hansen,
The Conversation,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Thanks to his commitment to help others, Tapia has served as a mentor in Cal State DC Scholars, a program in which students earn academic credit while interning in the nation’s capital.—
Larry D. Urish,
Oc Register,
5 Dec. 2025
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According to one professional biography, Halligan developed an interest in law while interning at the Denver City Attorney's Office in college.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
25 Nov. 2025
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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 8 Jan. 2026.
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