Dictionary

lock up en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌlɒk ˈʌp/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From lock + up.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To imprison or incarcerate (someone).
   • 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. 2020 July 23, Chris Daw, “'A stain on national life': why are we locking up so many children?'”, in The Guardian:
2. (transitive) To put (something) away in a locked location for safekeeping; (occasionally, chiefly humorously) to sequester (a person) in a similar way.
   • Please lock up all valuables in the safe before leaving.
   • Angus is back in town! Better lock up your daughters, your wife, and your sheep!
3. (intransitive) To close (and often lock) all doors and windows (of a place) securely.
4. (transitive) To lock (a door, window, etc.).
   • That door still needs to be locked up.
5. (intransitive) To cease responding.
   • When I press this button, the program locks up.
6. (transitive) To cause (a program) to cease responding or to freeze.
   • If your password contains a particular string of letters, entering it can lock up the login form.
7. (intransitive) To stop moving; to seize.
8. (intransitive, of a wheel) To stop moving; to seize. ▸ To stop spinning due to excessive braking torque.
   • Due to the engines-out condition, the landing was conducted without the brake antiskid and normal breaking^([sic]) systems. Because the emergency brake accumulator only provides for a limited amount of brake applications, full braking was applied and retained at the second touch down, resulting in the main wheels locking up. The tires quickly abraded and deflated at a point between about 300 and 450 feet beyond the second and final touch down. 2004 October 18, Gabinete de Prevenção e Investigação de Acidentes com Aeronaves, “1.3 Damage to Aircraft”, in Accident Investigation Final Report: All Engines-out Landing Due to Fuel Exhaustion, Air Transat Airbus A330-243 marks C-GITS, Lajes, Azores, Portugal, 24 August 2001, archived from the original on 30 Oct 2022, page 11:
9. To lose one's forward momentum; to freeze.
10. (intransitive) To (mistakenly) cause or have one of one's wheels to lock up (stop spinning).
    • 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. 2019 September 8, Andrew Benson, BBC Sport:
11. (transitive) To invest in something long term.
12. (intransitive, qualifier:boating) To travel through a flight of locks on a waterway in an uphill direction.
13. (obsolete) To fasten quoins securely with a mallet and a shooting stick.
14. (slang, transitive) To assure success in or control of (something).
    • He locked up the championship with that move.
15. (intransitive) To enter a state of mechanical alignment.
    • You will roll the second tape for about 15 seconds until the tape "locks up" with house sync. 1994, Carl Hausman, Philip J. Palombo, Modern Video Production: Tools, Techniques, Applications (page 148)

Forms

Antonyms

lock down

Coordinates

lock down

Deriveds

lock-up · lock someone up and throw away the key · lockup

Hypernyms

lock through

Relateds

lockaway (invest in something)

Synonyms

freeze up · hang up · freeze · send away · shut away · hang

Translations (72)

pl zamykać (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · fr verrouiller (to close the doors and windows securely) · ru зави́снуть (of a computer: to cease responding) · ja 閉じ込める (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · la inclūdō (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · ru ви́снуть (of a computer: to cease responding) · it bloccarsi (of a computer: to cease responding) · it serrare (to close the doors and windows securely) · pl schować (put away in a locked location) · fi lukita (to close the doors and windows securely) · eo enŝlosi (put away in a locked location) · es bloquearse (of a computer: to cease responding) · sv frysa (of a computer: to cease responding) · es trabarse (of a computer: to cease responding) · it incarcerare (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · mi tāmau (to close the doors and windows securely) · es colgarse (of a computer: to cease responding) · pl zaciąć (of a computer: to cease responding) · pt prender (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · de sich aufhängen (of a computer: to cease responding) · io enceluligar (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · km ដាក់គុក (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · pl zacinać się (to stop spinning due to excessive braking torque) · pl zamknąć (to close the doors and windows securely) · cmn 鎖定 /锁定 (to close the doors and windows securely) · es guardar enllavado (put away in a locked location) · pl zamknąć (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · es trancar (to stop spinning due to excessive braking torque) · sv bura in (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · it rinchiudere (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · pl zaciąć się (to stop spinning due to excessive braking torque) · de wegschließen (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · ru запере́ть (to close the doors and windows securely) · pl zacinać (of a computer: to cease responding) · bg затваря́м (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · ru запира́ть (to close the doors and windows securely) · it impallarsi (of a computer: to cease responding) · de abschließen (to close the doors and windows securely) · es encerrar (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · es guardar bajo llavín (put away in a locked location) · km ចាក់សោ (to close the doors and windows securely) · hy կողպել (to close the doors and windows securely) · fr se bloquer (of a computer: to cease responding) · es trancar (to close the doors and windows securely) · es cerrar (to close the doors and windows securely) · es trancarse (of a computer: to cease responding) · ru запере́ть (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · fi jumittua (of a computer: to cease responding) · ru запира́ть (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · es inmovilizar (to stop spinning due to excessive braking torque) · fr enfermer (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · it bloccare (to close the doors and windows securely) · pl aresztować (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · de einschließen (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · pl chować (put away in a locked location) · es guardar llavido (put away in a locked location) · es trabar (to stop spinning due to excessive braking torque) · pl zaaresztować (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · cmn 鎖上 /锁上 (to close the doors and windows securely) · es guardar llaveado (put away in a locked location) · es enllavar (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · pl zamykać (to close the doors and windows securely) · de zusperren (to close the doors and windows securely) · pt travar (of a computer: to cease responding) · de absperren (to close the doors and windows securely) · fi hyytyä (of a computer: to cease responding) · es frisarse (of a computer: to cease responding) · sv låsa in (put away in a locked location) · it imprigionare (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · hy փակել (to close the doors and windows securely) · de einsperren (to imprison or incarcerate someone) · fi vangita (to imprison or incarcerate someone)