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lockup

lockup

40 5.5
A small room in a police station where police keep people temporarily
  • noun
  • /ˈlɑːkʌp/
: calabozo
  • The police took him to the lockup until his hearing the next morning.
  • a police lockup
  • jails and lockups
  • a county lockup

They're in there paying protection or they're in lockup.

Examples

  • I just got out of three years of lockup.

    Short Cuts (1993)

  • Margo Wallace has been arrested and is being led into the women's lockup.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • "What sort of place is this lockup of yours?"

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Now, which one of you wanna spend the night in county lockup?

    Copshop (2021)

  • Direct from the police lockup.

    Tango & Cash (1989)

  • You've been in lockup for 15 years.

    Earth's Final Hours (2011)

  • Son, you know where the Fayetteville lockup is?

    8MM (1999)

  • Wentworth had spent only one night in Central Lockup, but that was quite enough.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • After they'd been allowed to call their husbands, they were put into the police station lockup.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • More than 700 youths are in state lockups on any given day.

    Blog text (26)

Synonyms

cell
vslockup
549 5.6

A small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is held

is similar but can also mean a small building used for short detention
police station
vslockup
157 1.0

A building where police work, hold arrested people, and take crime reports

is specifically the small detention area or building inside that facility
jail cell
vslockup
43 1.5

A small room in a prison where guards keep prisoners

is used more for very short stays at a local law facility
jailhouse
vslockup
42 4.1

A building where police keep people who are waiting for trial or serving a sentence

is a smaller part or specific room within such detention buildings
holding cell
vslockup
33 4.1

A secure room in a police station where people wait briefly before going to court

is the small station room or building used for brief official detention
slammer
vslockup
  • Slang
32 9.8

A prison or jail where people are kept after arrest

is the formal small station room or building for temporary custody
prison cell
vslockup
29 2.7

A small locked room in jail for holding a person

is for short holding close to police work rather than long sentences
detention cell
vslockup
2 4.4

A large room in a jail or police station where officers keep several people for a short time

is smaller and more like a short term local detention space

Antonyms

freedom
∞ 1.0

The right to act, speak, or think as you want without being stopped

release
279 1.8

An act of letting someone or something go free from being held

How Secure

supermax
  • Specialized
12 7.9
penitentiary
  • US
73 7.9
prison
∞ 1.0
jailhouse
42 4.1
lockup
40 5.5
holding cell
33 4.1

Surface Forms

lockup singular
lockups plural

Morphology

lockup = lock + up (semi-transparent) = lock + up

The detention sense comes from the familiar phrase 'lock up' meaning confine, but the noun 'lockup' is a specialized institutional meaning rather than a fully literal one.

Etymology

Lockup comes from the phrase lock ('to close with a key') plus up ('fully'), used when someone is 'locked up' by the police. So, a lockup is a small place where people are kept for a short time after arrest.