up the river

Idioms  

1. To or in prison, as in They sent him up the river for five years. This phrase originally referred to Sing-Sing Prison, on the Hudson River about 30 miles north of New York City. So used from about 1890 on, it was broadened to apply to any prison by the early 1900s.

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Example Sentences

I get my sacks of food and we head up the river a bit to be alone, but still they do not rest.

From Literature

In the summer barges bring supplies up the river to the villages.

From Literature

Rowdy and I walked up the river bank for about three hundred yards and then cut back through the bottoms.

From Literature

“Read that part where God opened up the river and all those people walked across and didn’t even get their feet wet.”

From Literature

INÍRIDA, Colombia—A few miles up the river from this border outpost, vast mineral riches are buried in the Venezuelan jungle.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cell
• lockup
• penitentiary
• prison