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punish

2 syllables
Quick answer

As a verb, punish means cause to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action.

Meanings of punish

5 meanings

verb

  1. To cause to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action.

    “If a prince violates the law, then he must be punished like an ordinary person.”

  2. figurativelyTo treat harshly and unfairly.

  3. colloquialTo handle or beat severely; to maul.

  4. colloquialTo consume a large quantity of.

  5. Impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on

    “The students were penalized for showing up late for class”

    “we had to punish the dog for soiling the floor again”

    Similar: penalize, penalise

Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).

Synonyms by meaning

verb: impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on
penalizepenalise

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