lock away
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
Tens of thousands of young children are injured every year by common household items that many parents don’t think to lock away.
—
Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 1 May 2026
And later, when water levels dropped, tectonics shifted, reefs grew, and the ice age locked away the planet’s water supplies into glaciers, and new faults thrust the land skyward to dry?
—Literary Hub, 30 Apr. 2026
The animating fear of news coverage at the time was that Celera’s data would be important, and locked away from the public.
—Matthew Herper, STAT, 30 Apr. 2026
What’s interesting about Victor’s story originally, and is very present in our story, is how, poverty, race and bureaucratic indifference, not illness, determines who gets locked away.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for lock away
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Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 1 May 2026
And later, when water levels dropped, tectonics shifted, reefs grew, and the ice age locked away the planet’s water supplies into glaciers, and new faults thrust the land skyward to dry?
—Literary Hub, 30 Apr. 2026
The animating fear of news coverage at the time was that Celera’s data would be important, and locked away from the public.
—Matthew Herper, STAT, 30 Apr. 2026
What’s interesting about Victor’s story originally, and is very present in our story, is how, poverty, race and bureaucratic indifference, not illness, determines who gets locked away.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 27 Apr. 2026
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 2 May. 2026.
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