up the river

Idioms  

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.

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Example Sentences

INÍRIDA, Colombia—A few miles up the river from this border outpost, vast mineral riches are buried in the Venezuelan jungle.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

Rengganis hopes the momentum to clean up the river and address the region’s trash problem continues, so that future generations can also enjoy the area.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 7, 2023

A judge has granted a preliminary injunction preventing water diversions that would dry up the river, requiring sufficient water to provide for fish and keep the Kern flowing in the city.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2023

Sunardi's village has been digging up the river bed since June, when the water in their wells ran out.

From Reuters • Aug. 9, 2023

Talking with men in the Transient-House I heard of the fur trade up the river, how licensed trappers went up and downriver by sledge or iceboat through Tarrenpeth Forest almost to the Ice.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Related Words

• cell
• lockup
• penitentiary
• prison