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

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 • Feb. 25, 2026

“The only way around it is for the states to agree how to divvy up the river in an equitable way.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2026

Sunardi's village has been digging up the river bed since June, when the water in their wells ran out.

From Reuters • Aug. 9, 2023

Swan upping - so-called says Mr Barber because they go up the river and pick the swans up out of the water - is a traditional summer spectacle on the Thames.

From BBC • Jul. 17, 2023

“It’s a . . . well a little dam up the river he knows about,” I said.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Related Words

• cell
• lockup
• penitentiary
• prison