punish
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
punish/ˈpʌnɪʃ/
▶verb
- 1 inflict a penalty on as retribution for an offence.
■ inflict a penalty on someone for (an offence).
■ informal capitalize on (an opponent's mistake).
- 2 treat harshly or severely.
– derivatives
punishable adjective,
punisher noun,
punishing adjective,
punishingly adverb.
punishable adjective,
punisher noun,
punishing adjective,
punishingly adverb.
– origin ME: from OFr. puniss-, lengthened stem of punir ‘punish’, from L. punire, from poena ‘penalty’.
'punish' also found in these Oxford entries:
