up the river

1. To or in prison, as in They sent him up the river for five years. This phrase originally referred to Sing-Sing Prison, on the Hudson River about 30 miles north of New York City. So used from about 1890 on, it was broadened to apply to any prison by the early 1900s.

Example Sentences

In July, the U.S. and Mexican governments signed an agreement pledging to clean up the river.

From Los Angeles Times

Activists with another group, Surfrider Foundation, are also circulating a petition calling for President Trump to declare a national emergency to expedite efforts to curb the flow of untreated sewage and clean up the river.

From Los Angeles Times

Further up the river, Chapin named Chicopee, a Nipmuc word for evergreen red cedar.

From Los Angeles Times

They had each been in Sing-Sing up the river the year before, Johnny at the end of a three-year stretch for, what else, robbery, Beansie finishing up five years for pistol-whipping a bartender near to death on Avenue B in ’62.

From Salon

California officials have joined a legal effort to restore water to the Kern River after an abrupt shutoff of water dried up the river and killed thousands of fish in Bakersfield.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cell 
• lockup 
• penitentiary 
• prison