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Synonyms

lock up

British  

verb

  1. Also: lock in.   lock away.  (tr) to imprison or confine

  2. to lock or secure the doors, windows, etc, of (a building)

  3. (tr) to keep or store securely

    secrets locked up in history

  4. (tr) to invest (funds) so that conversion into cash is difficult

  5. printing to secure (type, etc) in a chase or in the bed of the printing machine by tightening the quoins

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the action or time of locking up

  2. a jail or block of cells

  3. a small shop with no attached quarters for the owner or shopkeeper

  4. a garage or storage place separate from the main premises

  5. stock exchange an investment that is intended to be held for a relatively long period

  6. printing the pages of type held in a chase by the positioning of quoins

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1.  lock-up.  (of premises) without living accommodation

    a lock-up shop
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
lock up Idioms  

  1. Close a house or place of work, fastening all the doors and windows, as in The attendant locks up at eleven o'clock every night , or Did you remind Abby to lock up? [Late 1500s]

  2. Invest in something not easily converted into cash, as in Most of their assets were locked up in real estate . [Late 1600s]

  3. lock someone up . Confine or imprison someone, as in The princes were locked up in the Tower of London . [c. 1300]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"A newcomer comes to town and they're locking up, and everyone laughs, because why are you doing that? Nothing happens here."

From BBC

The Olympics will be Chloe’s first competition this season after she purposely took on a lighter schedule knowing she already had her Olympic spot locked up last year.

From Los Angeles Times

A lot of my wealth is locked up in real estate, a simple three-bedroom colonial that shakes if you slam the front door.

From The Wall Street Journal

Anyway, the captain, he kept all the good food and drink locked up for himself while the crew half starved.

From Literature

“I know there are people who think I’m gonna be locked up or whatever. I ain’t worried about that. You heard the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

From Salon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.