punish
/ˈpʌnɪʃ/verb2 syllables
Punish means: impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on.
Synonyms for punish17
verb, as in impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on
penalize, penalise
also used for punish
castigate, 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
Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What does punish mean?1
verb
1
impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on“The students were penalized for showing up late for class”
Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Punish in a sentence
- Sometimes, in seeking to punish evil, the righteous become evildoers themselves.carlosalberto
- The boss didn't punish you this time, but don't push your luck.OA
- In the name of the moon, we'll punish you!fcbond
- They sought him in order to punish him for his crime, but he escaped.AlanF_US
- If you don't behave yourself, your father's going to punish you.CK
- Kill with your silence, punish with your absence, win with your smile.Miktsoanit
- Don't punish the boy severely; go easy on him.unknown
- Do not punish the girl severely; go easy on her.unknown
Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.
Forms of punish
as a verb
- past tense
- punished
- present participle
- punishing
- third-person singular
- punishes
- past participle
- punished