punish
[ puhn-ish ]
/ ˈpʌn ɪʃ /
verb (used with object)
to subject to pain, loss, confinement, death, etc., as a penalty for some offense, transgression, or fault: to punish a criminal.
to inflict a penalty for (an offense, fault, etc.): to punish theft.
to handle severely or roughly, as in a fight.
to put to painful exertion, as a horse in racing.
Informal.
to make a heavy inroad on; deplete: to punish a quart of whiskey.
verb (used without object)
to inflict punishment.
Origin of punish
synonym study for punish
1.
Punish,
correct,
discipline refer to making evident public or private disapproval of violations of law, wrongdoing, or refusal to obey rules or regulations by imposing penalties. To
punish is chiefly to inflict penalty or pain as a retribution for misdeeds, with little or no expectation of correction or improvement:
to punish a thief. To
correct is to reprove or inflict punishment for faults, specifically with the idea of bringing about improvement:
to correct a rebellious child.
To discipline is to give a kind of punishment that will educate or will establish useful habits:
to discipline a careless driver.
OTHER WORDS FROM punish
Words nearby punish
pung,
punga,
pungent,
punic,
punic wars,
punish,
punishable,
punishing,
punishment,
punition,
punitive
Example sentences from the Web for punish
British Dictionary definitions for punish
punish
/ (ˈpʌnɪʃ) /
verb
to force (someone) to undergo a penalty or sanction, such as imprisonment, fines, death, etc, for some crime or misdemeanour
(tr)
to inflict punishment for (some crime, etc)
(tr)
to use or treat harshly or roughly, esp as by overexertion
to punish a horse
(tr) informal
to consume (some commodity) in large quantities
to punish the bottle
Derived forms of punish
punisher, noun punishing, adjective punishingly, adverbWord Origin for punish
C14
punisse, from Old French
punir, from Latin
pūnīre to punish, from
poena penalty