up the river

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.

Example Sentences

Now he would need a strong team of men to help him tow the obelisk up the river, bring it ashore, drag it halfway across the island of Manhattan, & stand it up in Central Park. & he needs a smart young man like me to help.

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And then finally somebody shouted and we all looked to see the steamboat towing the pontoon boat up the river.

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In July, the U.S. and Mexican governments signed an agreement pledging to clean up the river.

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Activists with another group, Surfrider Foundation, are also circulating a petition calling for President Trump to declare a national emergency to expedite efforts to curb the flow of untreated sewage and clean up the river.

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Further up the river, Chapin named Chicopee, a Nipmuc word for evergreen red cedar.

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Related Words

• cell 
• lockup 
• penitentiary 
• prison