to throw away the key
12
8.8
- idiom
- Informal
:
encerrar y tirar la llave
- Lock him up and throw away the key.
- lock 'em up, throw away the key
- jail and throw away the key
- going to throw away the key
No, they set it up as, you know, lock in a box and throw away the key.
- No, they set it up as, you know, lock in a box and throw away the key.
- I feared that if I told my family the things I was going through, they would lock me up in a white walled padded room and throw away the key.
Examples
-
What are you going to do, lock me up and throw away the key?
-
They lock him up and throw away the key!
-
Lock him up and throw away the key!
-
Lock him up and throw away the key.
-
Lock them up and throw away the key.
Blog text (8) -
As for the "suspect," throw him in jail and throw away the key.
Blog text (6) -
We're gonna throw away the key, Duffy.
-
They should have locked that guy up and thrown away the key.
-
Garber says when I identify him, they're gonna lock him up and throw away the key.
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If a criminal is found guilty, the judge might decide to throw away the key to ensure they never leave prison.
Synonyms
115
5.8
To lock someone in prison or a secure place
2
9.5
Put someone in prison and never let them out
Put someone in prison and never let them leave
Antonyms
43
5.3
To help someone get back their health and normal life after illness, injury, or prison
How Severe
- Informal
12
8.8
- Formal
178
4.2
- Specialized
659
7.0
821
1.0
31
6.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal components ('throw away' + 'key') clearly evoke the image of discarding the means of release, so a learner who knows the words can infer a sense of preventing escape or release. However, the conventionalized meaning of permanent or indefinite imprisonment with no hope of release is an idiomatic extension that goes beyond the literal image and requires cultural/idiomatic knowledge, so it is not fully predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Throw away the key comes from the image of locking someone in and throwing away the key so no one can let them out. So it means 'to keep someone locked up for life'.