star up

English

Verb

star up (third-person singular simple present stars up, present participle starring up, simple past and past participle starred up)

1. (UK, transitive) To transfer (an incarcerated juvenile offender) to an adult prison earlier than the usual age of 18 or 21.
   • 2011, Jonathan Trigell, Boy A, page 189:

     So he lost it all when he got starred up: sent to adult prison.

   • 2016, Yvonne Jewkes, Ben Crewe, Jamie Bennett, Handbook on Prisons, page 534:

     Under 18s can occasionally be moved to the adult estate through a process known in the system as 'starring up'. Fewer than ten under 18s were moved each year between 2010 and 2012 and none in 2013.