Synonyms of lock (up)

lock (up) 1 of 2

verb

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

• jail
• imprison
• intern
• confine
• incarcerate
• detain
• arrest
• restrain
• commit
• immure
• shut
• limit
• catch
• capture
• gate
• restrict
• constrain
• jug
• apprehend
• pick up
• bind
• seize
• bar
• pinch
• keep
• hold
• impress
• shanghai
• bust
• shackle
• impound
• enchain
• fetter
• nab
• handcuff
• manacle
• trammel

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• liberate
• discharge
• release
• free
• manumit
• enfranchise
• emancipate
• unbind
• unchain
• unfetter
• uncage

lockup

2 of 2

noun

ˈläk-ˌəp 

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

• jail
• prison
• penitentiary
• brig
• jailhouse
• stockade
• slammer
• calaboose
• pen
• guardroom
• bridewell
• pokey
• cooler
• hoosegow
• bastille
• cage
• coop
• big house
• hock
• clink
• joint
• slam
• stir
• jug
• cell
• tolbooth
• dungeon
• nick
• quod
• can
• tank
• hold
• bull pen
• ward
• guardhouse
• block
• hole
• gulag
• prison camp
• labor camp
• concentration camp
• reformatory
• stalag
• work camp
• keep
• glasshouse
• reform school
• oubliette
• hulk(s)
• training school

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• outside

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lock (up)

Noun

He was sentenced in absentia after refusing to leave the courthouse lockup and attend the sentencing hearing. — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 7 Aug. 2026

Yet for the insiders, the lockup expiry was more of a moment of pause. — Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026

Typically, a company will instill a 180-day lockup period before pre-IPO shares become eligible to trade. — John Towfighi, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026

The mechanics of that phase, lockups, secondary markets, continuation funds, and the pressure venture firms are under to finally return capital to their own investors, are becoming just as important to understand as the IPOs themselves. — Steven Dudash, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026