Adjacent Words

Punish definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PUN'ISH, v.t. [L. punio, from the root of poena,pain. The primary sense is to press or strain.]
1. To pain; to afflict with pain, loss or calamity for a crime or fault; primarily, to afflict with bodily pain, as to punish a thief with pillory or stripes; but the word is applied also to affliction by loss of property, by transportation, banishment, seclusion from society, etc. The laws require murderers to be punished with death. Other offenders are to be punished with fines, imprisonment, hard labor,etc. God punishes men for their sins with calamities personal and national.
2. To chastise; as, a father punishes his child for disobedience.
3. To regard with pain or suffering inflicted on the offender; applied to the crime; as, to punish murder or theft.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on; "The students were penalized for showing up late for class"; "we had to punish the dog for soiling the floor again" [syn: punish, penalize, penalise]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English punisshen, from Anglo-French puniss-, stem of punir, from Latin punire, from poena penalty — more at pain Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to impose a penalty on for a fault, offense, or violation b. to inflict a penalty for the commission of (an offense) in retribution or retaliation 2. a. to deal with roughly or harshly b. to inflict injury on ; hurt intransitive verb to inflict punishment • punishability noun • punishable adjective • punisher noun Synonyms: punish, chastise, castigate, chasten, discipline, correct mean to inflict a penalty on in requital for wrongdoing. punish implies subjecting to a penalty for wrongdoing <punished for stealing>. chastise may apply to either the infliction of corporal punishment or to verbal censure or denunciation <chastised his son for neglecting his studies>. castigate usually implies a severe, typically public censure <an editorial castigating the entire city council>. chasten suggests any affliction or trial that leaves one humbled or subdued <chastened by a landslide election defeat>. discipline implies a punishing or chastening in order to bring under control <parents must discipline their children>. correct implies punishing aimed at reforming an offender <the function of prison is to correct the wrongdoer>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 cause (an offender) to suffer for an offence. 2 inflict a penalty for (an offence). 3 colloq. inflict severe blows on (an opponent). 4 a tax severely; subject to severe treatment. b abuse or treat improperly. Derivatives: punishable adj. punisher n. punishing adj. (in sense 4a). punishingly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF punir f. L punire = poenire f. poena penalty

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Punish Pun"ish, v. t. To deal with roughly or harshly; -- chiefly used with regard to a contest; as, our troops punished the enemy. [Colloq. or Slang]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Punish Pun"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Punished; p. pr. & vb. n. Punishing.] [OE. punischen, F. punir, from L. punire, punitum, akin to poena punishment, penalty. See Pain, and -ish.] 1. 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. A greater power Now ruled him, punished in the shape he sinned. --Milton. 2. 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. 3. To injure, as by beating; to pommel. [Low] Syn: To chastise; castigate; scourge; whip; lash; correct; discipline. See Chasten.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(punishes, punishing, punished) 1. To punish someone means to make them suffer in some way because they have done something wrong. According to present law, the authorities can only punish smugglers with small fines... Don't punish your child for being honest. VERB: V n, V n for n 2. To punish a crime means to punish anyone who commits that crime. The government voted to punish corruption in sport with up to four years in jail... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Chastise, castigate, lash, chasten, scourge, whip, flog. 2. Discipline, correct, visit with pain or suffering, take vengeance on, inflict penalties upon, subject to penalty.

Moby Thesaurus

abuse, admonish, agonize, amerce, avenge, banish, batter, be quits, beat, beat up, birch, bloody, bring to account, bring to book, call to account, cane, cashier, castigate, chasten, chastise, claw, convulse, correct, criticize, crucify, damage, deal with, discipline, draw and quarter, dress down, electrocute, even the score, excommunicate, excruciate, execute, exile, fine, fix, flog, get even with, handicap, hang, harm, harrow, hurt, impale, imprison, incarcerate, inflict upon, injure, kill by inches, knock about, knock around, lacerate, lambaste, lancinate, lash, lock up, macerate, make quits, maltreat, manhandle, martyr, martyrize, masthead, maul, mulct, paddle, penalize, pillory, polish off, put away, put down, rack, rebuke, reprove, revenge, rip, rough up, savage, scarify, scold, scourge, send down, send up, settle the score, settle with, shift, spank, square accounts, swill, take revenge, take to task, tar and feather, thrash, torment, torture, trounce, visit upon, whip, wring