pun·ish (pŭn'ĭsh) v.
pun·ished, pun·ish·ing, pun·ish·es
v.
tr.
To subject to a penalty for an offense, sin, or fault.
To inflict a penalty for (an offense).
To handle roughly; hurt: My boots were punished by our long trek through the desert.
v.
intr. To exact or mete out punishment.
[Middle English punissen, punishen, from Old French punir, puniss-, from Latin poenīre, pūnīre, from poena, punishment, from Greek poinē; see kwei-1 in Indo-European roots.] pun'ish·a·bil'i·ty n., pun'ish·a·ble adj., pun'ish·er n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to subject a person to something negative for an offense, sin, or fault. Punish is the least specific: The principal punished the students who were caught cheating. To correct is to punish so that the offender will mend his or her ways: Regulations formerly permitted prison wardens to correct unruly inmates. Chastise implies either corporal punishment or a verbal rebuke, as a means of effecting improvement in behavior: I chastised the bully by giving him a thrashing. The sarcastic child was roundly chastised for insolence. Discipline stresses punishment inflicted by an authority in order to control or to eliminate unacceptable conduct: The worker was disciplined for insubordination. Castigate means to censure or criticize severely, often in public: The judge castigated the attorney for badgering the witness. Penalize usually implies the forfeiture of money or of a privilege or gain because rules or regulations have been broken: Those who file their income-tax returns late will be penalized.
[puhn-i-shuh-buh
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