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

1300–50; Middle English punischen < Middle French puniss-, long stem of punir < Latin pūnīre; akin to poena penalty, pain

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

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, adverb

Word Origin for punish

C14 punisse, from Old French punir, from Latin pūnīre to punish, from poena penalty