lock someone up and throw away the key

verb

To lock someone up in prison indefinitely.

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Meanings

verblock someone up and throw away the key (third-person singular simple present locks someone up and throws away the key, present participle locking someone up and throwing away the key, simple past locked someone up and threw away the key, past participle locked someone up and thrown away the key)

present singular third person locks someone up and throws away the key · participle present locking someone up and throwing away the key · past locked someone up and threw away the key · participle past locked someone up and thrown away the key

  1. idiomaticslangTo lock someone up in prison indefinitely.
Cite this entry
APA

lock someone up and throw away the key. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lock%20someone%20up%20and%20throw%20away%20the%20key

MLA

“lock someone up and throw away the key.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lock%20someone%20up%20and%20throw%20away%20the%20key. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lock someone up and throw away the key,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lock%20someone%20up%20and%20throw%20away%20the%20key.

Source: lock someone up and throw away the key on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.