punish

CEFRB1

/ˈpʌnɪʃ/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To make someone suffer for doing something wrong.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To handle or beat severely; to maul.

Examples

  • Punish the wicked and save the weak.

  • We thought it wrong that you should punish him.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To treat harshly and unfairly.

  2. 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).

  3. To consume a large quantity of.

More examples

In context

  • If a prince violates the law, then he must be punished like an ordinary person.

  • The law needs to punish this behaviour as a deterrent to others.

  • A few moments later, we were all sitting around the veranda of the hunters' dining hall, punishing the gin, as usual.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Parents should never blank their children physically at home for minor mistakes.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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.