lockup
a jail, especially a local one for temporary detention.
the act of locking up or the state of being locked up.
a temporary imprisonment or detention, as of suspects or prisoners.
a stock that has been held by an individual as a long-term investment, or that a brokerage firm is required by a regulation to hold for a certain period of time before it can be sold.
any investment or credit instrument, as a renewed loan, in which capital is tied up for a long time.
Printing.
the entire body of type and cuts locked up in a chase preparatory to printing or platemaking.
the act or procedure of locking up type and cuts in a chase.
Automotive. a sudden stopping of the rotation of a wheel.
British Informal. a rented locker, storage space, or garage.
Origin of lockup
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use lockup in a sentence
While the desk sergeant ran a background check, he was roughed up by another officer in the lock-up.
What Would Happen if I Got in White Cop’s Face? | Goldie Taylor | December 30, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTExpect more of the unapologetic same the next time: NBC has paid a lot of money to lock up the Olympics through 2020.
The only technical issue I really had (aside from a game lock-up at the end of a particular chapter) was with some pop-in.
His son, he told them, would spend many hours in lock up by himself, and it severely affected him.
Friends of Colorado Shooting Suspect Evan Ebel Remember a Dark, Scary Kid | Carol McKinley | March 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTYet the two-day plunge seems too big to blame on just the lock-up expiration.
The place was used as a lock-up for some time after the incorporation, and the old irons were kept on show for years.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellOne of the punishments Mr Yates had invented was to lock up a culprit in a dark room for several hours together, without food.
Digby Heathcote | W.H.G. KingstonMost Wrykinians brewed in the winter and Easter terms, when the days were short and lock-up early.
The Gold Bat | P. G. WodehouseAs he spoke he began carefully to lock up some of the jewels in their little boxes, as if he meant to go away.
Wonder-Box Tales | Jean IngelowLock-up was still at six, so at a quarter to that hour they slipped down into the vault, and took up their position.
The Gold Bat | P. G. Wodehouse
British Dictionary definitions for lock up
Also: lock in, lock away (tr) to imprison or confine
to lock or secure the doors, windows, etc, of (a building)
(tr) to keep or store securely: secrets locked up in history
(tr) to invest (funds) so that conversion into cash is difficult
printing to secure (type, etc) in a chase or in the bed of the printing machine by tightening the quoins
the action or time of locking up
a jail or block of cells
British a small shop with no attached quarters for the owner or shopkeeper
British a garage or storage place separate from the main premises
stock exchange an investment that is intended to be held for a relatively long period
printing the pages of type held in a chase by the positioning of quoins
lock-up British and NZ (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
Other Idioms and Phrases with lockup
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]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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