big bird noun a long prison sentence UK A play on BIRDLIMESesameStreet, a children’s television programme since 1969.
[T]here were a few good people “doing big bird” (long sentences) because of him. — TheGuardian, 28 September 2000: “A life inside”
[Erwin] James describe[s] life in the slammer with the authenticity of an inmate doing “Big Bird” (more than 19 years so far)[.] — The Guardian, p. 4, 13 May 2003