punished; punishing; punishes
1
a
: to impose a penalty on for a fault, offense, or violation
b
: to inflict a penalty for the commission of (an offense) in retribution or retaliation
2
a
: to deal with roughly or harshly
b
: to inflict injury on : hurt
: to inflict punishment
Synonyms
Examples of punish in a Sentence
I think that murderers should be punished by life imprisonment.
She was punished for lying.
His parents punished him by taking away his allowance.
How should I punish my child's misbehavior?
State law punishes fraud with fines.
Recent Examples on the Web
Beterbiev would likely punish Paul the way his haters are thirsty to see.
—
Brian Mazique, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
After lightly chiding these gents for two movies, director Michael Winterbottom finally takes the knives out and begins to punish them, a decision that results in two late scenes that border on sociopathic and culminates in an unimaginably absurd ending that refuses to let Coogan off the hook.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Nov. 2024
Also weird: To punish Chandler for kissing his girlfriend, Joey makes his best friend and roommate spend six hours of Thanksgiving locked in a huge wooden box.
—Brian Boone, Vulture, 15 Nov. 2024
Sexton, the Republican House speaker, said kids with disabilities were capable of carrying out acts of mass violence and should be punished under the law.
—Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, 13 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for punish 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Brian Mazique, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
After lightly chiding these gents for two movies, director Michael Winterbottom finally takes the knives out and begins to punish them, a decision that results in two late scenes that border on sociopathic and culminates in an unimaginably absurd ending that refuses to let Coogan off the hook.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Nov. 2024
Also weird: To punish Chandler for kissing his girlfriend, Joey makes his best friend and roommate spend six hours of Thanksgiving locked in a huge wooden box.
—Brian Boone, Vulture, 15 Nov. 2024
Sexton, the Republican House speaker, said kids with disabilities were capable of carrying out acts of mass violence and should be punished under the law.
—Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, 13 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for punish
Dictionary Entries Near punish
Cite this Entry
“Punish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/punish. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Legal Definition
punish
transitive verb
pun·ish
ˈpə-nish 
1
: to impose a penalty on for a fault, offense, or violation
2
: to inflict a penalty for the commission of (an offense) in retribution or retaliation or as a deterrent
: to inflict punishment
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share