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

Meanwhile, China is locking up the silver used to manufacture the solar panels which generate that power.

From MarketWatch

She became the only prisoner locked up in Dhaka's old - and now disused - central jail.

From BBC

That predictability allows insurers to be creative in how they invest insurance reserves, locking up money in private credit.

From The Wall Street Journal

Paramount ultimately agreed to extend the overall deal for Park County as well as lock up the show’s exclusive global streaming rights for $300 million a year over five years.

From Los Angeles Times

In an interview from the Immigrant Defenders Law Center in downtown L.A., he said it felt great “to get back to my routine, going to school, not being locked up, being free, laughing, learning more.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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