lock away
phrasal verb
locked away; locking away; locks away
1
: to put (something) in a locked container, place, etc.
The jewelry was locked away in a cabinet.
2
: to put (someone) in a locked place (such as a prison) for a long period of time
lock away a criminal
The state locked their sister away in a psychiatric hospital.
3
: to keep (oneself) alone in a room or place for a long period of time
He locked himself away in his room while he studied.
He was locked away in his room while he studied.
Examples of lock away in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The stepson was locked away for several hours every day except for when he was allowed to complete various chores that took anywhere between 15 minutes and two hours to complete.
—
Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2025
According to several studies, approximately 80–90 percent of the world's organizational data is stored as unstructured data in documents, much of it locked away in formats that resist easy extraction.
—Ars Technica, 11 Mar. 2025
For two-and-a-half years, curators from Cinémathèque Française and the Design Museum in London pored over a treasure trove of items locked away in Anderson’s storage facility in Kent, England to create the first museum exhibition of his work.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 21 Mar. 2025
If theft is so rampant that products must be locked away, perhaps the solution lies in store layout, staffing levels, or security personnel rather than forcing customers to jump through technological hoops.
—Roger Dooley, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock away
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Amaris Encinas, USA TODAY, 13 Mar. 2025
According to several studies, approximately 80–90 percent of the world's organizational data is stored as unstructured data in documents, much of it locked away in formats that resist easy extraction.
—Ars Technica, 11 Mar. 2025
For two-and-a-half years, curators from Cinémathèque Française and the Design Museum in London pored over a treasure trove of items locked away in Anderson’s storage facility in Kent, England to create the first museum exhibition of his work.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 21 Mar. 2025
If theft is so rampant that products must be locked away, perhaps the solution lies in store layout, staffing levels, or security personnel rather than forcing customers to jump through technological hoops.
—Roger Dooley, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for lock away
Cite this Entry
“Lock away.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lock%20away. Accessed 8 Apr. 2025.
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