under lock and key
16
3.0
- idiom
:
bajo llave
- The confidential files are kept under lock and key to prevent unauthorized access.
- keep under lock and key
In fact, I've developed it over years and I keep it under lock and key.
- In fact, I've developed it over years and I keep it under lock and key.
- If you work on the factory floor, you ask permission for to go to the supply cage that's kept under lock and key so that someone else can sign out stuff that you may need.
Examples
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And prior to his medical discharge, he was under lock and key... at the psych ward at Walter Reed.
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You keep your copter under lock and key, don't you?
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My office, where it will remain under lock and key.
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Gentlemen, this must be kept under lock and key... when not in use.
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I keep it under lock and key.
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The movie, like so many Stone projects, has been kept under lock and key.
Blog text (16) -
The painting will be under lock and key before the auction.
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Books were kept under lock and key, sometimes chained to shelves.
Academic text (2015) -
I hear he keeps his gallery of antique-y Fae swag well under lock and key.
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You're as good as there is at that game, the way you've kept your feelings for Veronica under lock and key—it's admirable.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
318
3.2
Protected from danger or from people trying to break in
238
4.8
A strong locked room or digital place for keeping valuable things safe
97
2.6
Close a house or safe with a key to keep people out
32
3.4
Put someone or something somewhere they cannot leave and others cannot reach
14
5.8
A strong metal box that is often kept at a bank to hold valuable things safely
11
3.4
To fasten something using a small metal lock with a U-shaped bar
3
2.6
To put something in a safe place to use later
Antonyms
How Secure
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'kept securely locked' is directly and transparently derived from the constituents: 'under' (in a state/place) together with 'lock' and 'key' (a mechanism for securing). This compositional logic is literal and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the individual words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Under lock and key comes from the image of putting something in a box or room and fastening it with a lock and key so no one can open it. That's why it means 'kept safe' or 'protected from access or theft'.