Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to imprison.

1933		Ersine Und. and Prison Sl. 16: bang, v. [...] 2. To arrest.
1970		T. Parker Frying-Pan 87: They can bang me up anywhere, I don’t care, Dartmoor, Parkhurst, Durham.
1994		Indep. Mag. 6 Aug. 32: They banged him up in a mental home near Milton Keynes.
2002		R.G. Barrett Mystery Bay Blues 56: Mullets got banged up over a huge shipment and was still on remand in Long Bay.
2007		N. ‘Razor’ Smith Raiders 71: Neither of us has got a licence. They’d have banged us up straightaway.
2011		G. Knight Hood Rat 135: The cops had to bang up all the serious guys.
2018		I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers 8: After Franco’s attempted attack on me [...] he was banged up.
2023		R. Milward Man-Eating Typewriter 234: ‘I’ve been done for breaking and entering. Judge says if he sees me again, he’ll bang me up’.

2. (also bang out) to lock a prisoner in a cell.

1958		(con. 1940s) B. Behan Borstal Boy 100: The screw banged out the door.
1958		F. Norman Bang To Rights 152: They had [...] taken my dabs and banged me up in a peter.
1989		(con. 1950s–60s) in G. Tremlett Little Legs 25: Don’t bang me up ’cos I gets claustrophobia.
1999		J. Cameron Brown Bread in Wengen [ebook] They banged me up without even a fucking paper.

3. to be locked up in a cell.

1950		P. Tempest Lag’s Lex.
1970		T. Parker Frying-Pan 7: You can watch television [...] or whatever it is you do until quarter to nine when you bang-up then and go to bed.

4. (Aus. prison) to alert a prison officer by banging on one’s cell door.

1990

Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Bang up. To attract attention of officers by making a noise. Usually occurs when a prisoner is locked in his cell at night and may be ill.