lock up
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Verb[edit]
lock up (third-person singular simple present locks up, present participle locking up, simple past and past participle locked up)
- (transitive) to imprison or incarcerate someone
- 2020 July 23, Chris Daw, “A stain on national life': why are we locking up so many children?”, in The Guardian[1]:
- In 1970, a new era of “getting tough” on young offenders really began to gather momentum with the incoming Conservative government. The number of juveniles locked up each year increased by 500% between 1965 and 1980.
- (transitive) to invest in something long term
- (intransitive) to close all doors and windows of a place securely
- (intransitive, computing) to cease responding, to freeze
- (intransitive, mechanics) to stop moving, to seize
- To lose one's forward momentum, to freeze.
- (intransitive, motor racing) To (mistakenly) cause or have one of one's tyres or tires to lock up (stop spinning).
- 2019 September 8, Andrew Benson, BBC Sport[2]:
- Twelve laps later, Leclerc locked up at the first chicane and clattered over the run-off area. Again, Hamilton got a run on him, and this time Leclerc defended robustly through the flat-out Curva Grande, moving very late to block Hamilton to the Ferrari's left.
- (intransitive, boating) to travel through a flight of locks on a waterway in an uphill direction
- Antonym: lock down
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to imprison or incarcerate someone
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to close the doors and windows securely
of a computer: to cease responding
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