throw away the key
Lock up forever
To throw away the key is to ensure someone stays imprisoned permanently, or more broadly, to make any confinement or restriction irreversible.
The phrase usually follows "lock up": They should lock him up and throw away the key.
It expresses a desire for harsh, permanent punishment—no parole, no second chances.
- irreversibilityState of being permanent
- no turning backCommitment beyond reversal
- point of no returnThreshold beyond which reversal impossible
- incarcerationConfinement in jail
- behind barsIn jail
irrevocable · sentencing · finality · life imprisonment · permanence · retribution · prison cell · hard time · solitary confinement · unchangeable · criminal justice · unalterable · immutability · lock and key · judicial system · punishment · penal code · psychological barriers
throw away the keyparole
Conditional early release
mercy · clemency · release · set free · early release
throw away the keyrestorative justice
Conflict resolution through mutual healing
rehabilitation · forgive and forget · show mercy · reintegration · reform