punish
/ˈpʌnɪʃ/ verb
Forms punishes punishing punished punishe
- verb (transitive) To cause (a child, student, or someone else being looked after, or a suspect or criminal) to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action, typically by an authority or a person in authority (for example: a parent, teacher, or police officer). “If a prince violates the law, then he must be punished like an ordinary person.”
- verb (transitive, figuratively) To treat harshly and unfairly.
- verb (transitive, colloquial) To handle or beat severely; to maul.
- verb (transitive, colloquial) To consume a large quantity of.
Synonyms
castigate penalize pillory mistreat amerce chasten chastise come down on correct fix someone's wagon have someone's guts for garters have someone's head have someone's hide give it to someone give someone what for give what for gruel malavogue nail someone to the wall penance penalise
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English punischen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French puniss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of punir, from Latin puniō (“to inflict punishment upon”), from poena (“punishment, penalty”); see pain. Displaced Old English wītnian and (mostly, in this sense) wrecan.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To impose a penalty upon; to afflict with pain, loss, or suffering for a crime or fault, either with or without a view to the offender's amendment; to cause to suffer in retribution; to chasten; as, to punish traitors with death; a father punishes his child for willful disobedience.
- verb To inflict a penalty for (an offense) upon the offender; to repay, as a fault, crime, etc., with pain or loss; as, to punish murder or treason with death.
Etymology [OE. punischen, F. punir, from L. punire, punitum, akin to poena punishment, penalty. See Pain, and -ish.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “punish”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details