punish

UK: /ˈpʌnɪʃ/ US: /ˈpʌnɪʃ/ ,(pun′ish)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pun•ish /ˈpʌnɪʃ/   v. [~ + object]

1. to cause (someone) to undergo or suffer pain, loss, jail, or death as a penalty for some offense or fault.
2. to inflict such a penalty for (an offense or fault):
   to punish theft.
3. to handle or treat harshly or roughly;
   hurt:
   The rocky road really punishes these tires.

See -pen-. Related Words

punish is a verb, punishment is a noun, punishable is an adjective:
The teacher had to punish her students. The punishment must fit the crime. That crime is punishable by death.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pun•ish  (pun′ish), v.t. 

1. to subject to pain, loss, confinement, death, etc., as a penalty for some offense, transgression, or fault:
   to punish a criminal.
2. to inflict a penalty for (an offense, fault, etc.):
   to punish theft.
3. to handle severely or roughly, as in a fight.
4. to put to painful exertion, as a horse in racing.
5. Informal Terms to make a heavy inroad on;
   deplete:
   to punish a quart of whiskey.

v.i. 

6. to inflict punishment.

• Latin pūnīre; akin to poena penalty, pain
• Middle French puniss-, long stem of punir
• Middle English punischen 1300–50

pun′ish•er, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. chastise, castigate.
  Punish, correct, discipline refer to making evident public or private disapproval of violations of law, wrongdoing, or refusal to obey rules or regulations by imposing penalties. To punish is chiefly to inflict penalty or pain as a retribution for misdeeds, with little or no expectation of correction or improvement:
  to punish a thief.
  To correct is to reprove or inflict punishment for faults, specifically with the idea of bringing about improvement:
  to correct a rebellious child.
  To discipline is to give a kind of punishment that will educate or will establish useful habits:
  to discipline a careless driver.
• 1, 2. penalize.

Antonyms

• 1, 2. reward.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

punish / ˈpʌnɪʃ/ verb

1. to force (someone) to undergo a penalty or sanction, such as imprisonment, fines, death, etc, for some crime or misdemeanour
2. (transitive) to inflict punishment for (some crime, etc)
3. (transitive) to use or treat harshly or roughly, esp as by overexertion: to punish a horse
4. (transitive) to consume (some commodity) in large quantities: to punish the bottle

Etymology: 14th Century punisse, from Old French punir, from Latin pūnīre to punish, from poena penalty

ˈpunisher noun

ˈpunishing adjective