lockup
noun
lock·up ˈläk-ˌəp 
1
: jail
especially : a local jail where persons are detained prior to court hearing
2
: an act of locking : the state of being locked
Synonyms
- bastille
- big house [slang]
- bridewell
- brig
- calaboose
- can
- clink [slang]
- cooler
- coop
- guardroom
- hock
- hold
- hoosegow
- jail
- jailhouse
- joint [slang]
- jug
- nick [British slang]
- pen
- penitentiary
- pokey [slang]
- prison
- quod [British slang]
- slam
- slammer
- stir [slang]
- stockade
- tolbooth [Scottish]
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
the firm conviction that juvenile offenders should never be held in adult lockups
Recent Examples on the Web The ringleader, Alvin Banks, was sentenced to four years in prison— two in state prison and two in federal lockup— for organizing and hosting the fights at his home, which drew spectators from six states. 
Adam Ferrise, cleveland, 12 July 2022 He was released from the county lockup Sunday after posting $167,000 bond. Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 29 Aug. 2022 Walker, dressed in blue jail scrubs, appeared Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Portland via video from the U.S. Marshal’s lockup, seated in front of a cinderblock wall, listening to the hearing by phone. oregonlive, 23 Aug. 2022 The 59-year-old British socialite was brought to the courtroom in Lower Manhattan from a lockup in Brooklyn where she has been held without bail. NBC News, 29 Nov. 2021 The defendant was released without bail shortly after his state booking and then re-booked at a federal lockup. Nicole Acevedo, NBC News, 23 July 2022 Prison records show Lopez was most recently being held at a lockup in Gatesville. Julia Musto, Fox News, 14 May 2022 Prison records show Lopez was most recently being held at a lockup in Gatesville, more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from where authorities were searching. Chron, 12 May 2022 Tubbs was transferred from a lockup in Los Angeles to one in Kern County after the robbery charge was filed May 6, records show. Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2022 See More
Adam Ferrise, cleveland, 12 July 2022 He was released from the county lockup Sunday after posting $167,000 bond. Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al, 29 Aug. 2022 Walker, dressed in blue jail scrubs, appeared Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Portland via video from the U.S. Marshal’s lockup, seated in front of a cinderblock wall, listening to the hearing by phone. oregonlive, 23 Aug. 2022 The 59-year-old British socialite was brought to the courtroom in Lower Manhattan from a lockup in Brooklyn where she has been held without bail. NBC News, 29 Nov. 2021 The defendant was released without bail shortly after his state booking and then re-booked at a federal lockup. Nicole Acevedo, NBC News, 23 July 2022 Prison records show Lopez was most recently being held at a lockup in Gatesville. Julia Musto, Fox News, 14 May 2022 Prison records show Lopez was most recently being held at a lockup in Gatesville, more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) from where authorities were searching. Chron, 12 May 2022 Tubbs was transferred from a lockup in Los Angeles to one in Kern County after the robbery charge was filed May 6, records show. Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1746, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
lockup
noun
lock·up ˈläk-ˌəp
: prison
Legal Definition
lockup
noun
lock·up
1
: a cell or group of cells (as in a courthouse) or jail where persons are held prior to a court hearing compare house of correction, house of detention, jail, penitentiary, prison
2
: the tactic of arranging with a friendly party an option to buy a valuable portion of one's corporate assets in order to discourage a takeover by another party