punish
verb/ˈpʌnɪʃ/
/ˈpʌnɪʃ/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they punish | /ˈpʌnɪʃ/ /ˈpʌnɪʃ/ |
| he / she / it punishes | /ˈpʌnɪʃɪz/ /ˈpʌnɪʃɪz/ |
| past simple punished | /ˈpʌnɪʃt/ /ˈpʌnɪʃt/ |
| past participle punished | /ˈpʌnɪʃt/ /ˈpʌnɪʃt/ |
| -ing form punishing | /ˈpʌnɪʃɪŋ/ /ˈpʌnɪʃɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to make somebody suffer because they have broken the law or done something wrong
- punish somebody Those responsible for this crime will be severely punished.
- punish somebody by doing something My parents used to punish me by not letting me watch TV.
- to punish a criminal/an offender/a perpetrator
- punish somebody for something She will be punished for her crimes.
- punish somebody for doing something He was punished for refusing to answer their questions.
- Damages are not designed to punish, but to compensate for the loss sustained.
Extra ExamplesTopics Crime and punishmentb1- Those found guilty will be punished accordingly.
- He was trying to punish her for deserting him all those years ago.
- Never punish children by making them go hungry.
- Offenders will be punished with a £1 000 fine.
- Those who had opposed the court were duly punished.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- harshly
- severely
- justly
- …
- want to
- try to
- be designed to
- …
- by
- for
- with
- …
- be punished accordingly
- [transitive] punish something (by/with something) to set the punishment for a particular crime
- In those days murder was always punished with the death penalty.
Extra Examples- I would not hesitate to condemn and punish unacceptable behaviour.
- The state is no longer effective in punishing crime.
- [transitive] punish yourself (for something) to blame yourself for something that has happened
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French puniss-, lengthened stem of punir ‘punish’, from Latin punire, from poena ‘penalty’.
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punish