Lock under means: To serve a life sentence in prison.. It is informal slang, fine in casual speech but not suited to formal contexts. It comes from prison or criminal-justice contexts; worth knowing what media your teen is consuming. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
lock under
(transitive, intransitive, slang, AAVE) To serve a life sentence in prison.
Definitions
US
#1·Apr 27, 2026US
(transitive, intransitive, slang, AAVE) To serve a life sentence in prison.
He's gonna get locked under a cell.
For parents
Lock under means: To serve a life sentence in prison.. It is informal slang, fine in casual speech but not suited to formal contexts. It comes from prison or criminal-justice contexts; worth knowing what media your teen is consuming. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
For ESL learners
lock under means: To serve a life sentence in prison.. Register: very informal, slang. Suitable only for casual conversation, chat and social media. Do not use in business, academic or news writing. A common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; native speakers immediately notice when slang appears in formal contexts, so always check the surrounding register before producing it yourself.
Cluster: general
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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Slang from Black American Vernacular English (AAVE), hip-hop, drag and ballroom culture, the Caribbean, and NYC street vocabulary. The single largest source of new mainstream English slang in living memory.
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