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punish definition

pun·ish (pun′is̸h)

transitive verb

  1. to cause to undergo pain, loss, or suffering for a crime or wrongdoing
  2. to impose a penalty on a wrongdoer for (an offense)
  3. to treat harshly or injuriously the punishing rays of the sun
  4. Informal to consume or use up

Etymology: ME punischen < extended stem of OFr punir < L punire, to punish < poena, punishment, penalty: see penal

intransitive verb

to deal out punishment

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

punish Synonyms

punish

v.

discipline, correct, chastise, chasten, castigate, penalize, sentence, train, reprove, scold, lecture, fine, incarcerate, imprison, immure, expel, execute, exile, behead, hang, electrocute, dismiss, disbar, disbench, defrock, whip, masthead, keelhaul, smite, spank, paddle, beat, thrash, trounce, flog, birch, switch, cuff, inflict penalty, visit punishment, blacklist, blackball, make an example of, give it to*, come down hard on*, attend to*, crack down on*, make it hot for*, pitch into*, give a dressing-down*, light into*, lick*, bring to book*, teach one a lesson*, lower the boom*, ground*, throw the book at*, give one one's comeuppance*, give what for*, fix*; see also banish 1, beat 2, censure, imprison, kill 1, scold.

punish implies the infliction of some penalty on a wrongdoer and generally connotes retribution rather than correction to punish a murderer by hanging; discipline suggests punishment that is intended to control or to establish habits of self-control to discipline a naughty child; correct suggests punishment for the purpose of overcoming faults to correct unruly pupils; chastise may imply severe rebuke or, more usually, corporal punishment and connotes both retribution and correction; castigate now implies punishment by severe public criticism or censure to castigate a corrupt official; chasten implies the infliction of tribulation in order to make obedient, meek, subdued, etc.""He chastens and hastens His will to make known'', a chastening experience


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

punish Usage Examples

Object

  • perpetrator: Anger or the desire to punish the perpetrator can be safely directed through the art materials.

Subject

  • confinement: Opposite the Bluecoat formerly stood a Bridewell or House of Correction where " petty crimes " were punished by confinement and hard labor.

Modifying Another Word

  • harshly: Leaving during a game ( without a good excuse ) Racist comments - Racism will not be tolerated and will be punished harshly.

Present participle complement

  • accord: He who does harm, him I punish according to the damage.

Preposition: in

  • hell: What we all deserve is to be punished in hell.

Preposition: for

  • contempt: The section clearly has a close relationship to the power of a court to punish for contempt.

Preposition: by

  • confinement: Opposite the Bluecoat formerly stood a Bridewell or House of Correction where " petty crimes " were punished by confinement and hard labor.
punish usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

punish quotes

Why should he, with wealth and honour blest, Refuse his age the needful hours of rest? Punish a body which he could not please; Bankrupt of life, yet prodigal of ease? And all to leave what with his toil he won To that unfeathered two-legged thing, a son.

-Dryden,John

He would punish everyone who deserved it: why, he wouldn't have minded being punished himself if he deserved it; but, then, he never did deserve it. 303

-Eliot, George pseudonym of  MaryAnn Evans

Distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful.

-Nietzsche, FriedrichWilhelm

punish quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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"punish." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/punish>

APA Style

punish. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/punish

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