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

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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

adjective

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

   a lock-up shop

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]

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Example Sentences

He was on course to improve on his final run but locked up into the hairpin and lost time.

From BBC

Other companies have also veered from the traditional lock up periods.

From The Wall Street Journal

Subscriptions and services revenue, which includes custodial fees and staking—locking up assets for a fee to verify blockchain transactions—exceeded transaction revenue for the first quarter ever.

From Barron's

Seemed to me if they filled in the privies, locked up the school, and threw the key down the well, they could save some real money and do us all a service.

From Literature

Why couldn’t I keep it locked up forever, in the tomb of my own body?

From Literature

Related Words

• ban
• block
• cancel
• censor
• deny
• deprive
• disallow
• enjoin
• exclude
• freeze
• halt
• hinder
• impede
• inhibit
• oppose
• preclude
• prevent
• proscribe
• restrain
• restrict