lock sb up
— phrasal verb with lock uk/lɒk/us/lɑːk/verb
to put someone in a prison or a hospital for people who are mentally ill:
Murderers should be locked up for life.
After what she did, they should lock her up and throw away the key (= lock her up until she dies).
See also
lock-up
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Putting people in prison
- at His/Her Majesty's pleasure idiom
- bang
- bang sb up
- bar
- behind bars idiom
- bird
- hold
- immured
- imprison
- incarcerate
- internment
- jail
- lock
- pen
- restraint
- rot
- rot in jail, prison, etc. idiom
- send
- send sb down
- serve
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