punish

punish — verb

1. to make a person undergo hardship or pay a penalty after they have broken a rule

1.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to make a person undergo hardship or pay a penalty after they have broken a rule, been found guilty of an offence, or done something forbidden

Example

The judge punished the car thief with a fine and eighteen months in prison.

punish [someone] with [penalty] — typical court pattern

Adina's mother punished her by taking away her phone for a whole week.

punish [someone] by [method] — describes how the punishment is carried out

Common collocations
  • punish someone severely
  • punish someone harshly
  • punish someone unjustly
  • punish someone lightly
Synonyms
  • penalise

    more formal; often used in sports, regulations, or financial contexts

  • discipline

    focuses on correcting behaviour; common for children, students, or employees

  • sentence

    specific to courts; refers to a judge's formal decision on a convicted person

Antonyms
  • reward

    giving something positive for good behaviour, the opposite of punishment

  • forgive

    choosing not to punish even when a wrong has been done

Grammar Patterns

punish + [someone] + for + [offence]

punish + [someone] + with/by + [penalty]

be punished for [offence]

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive voice (be punished). The preposition for introduces the offence, while with or by introduces the penalty or method of punishment.

Common Mistakes

The teacher punished him bad behaviour.
The teacher punished him for his bad behaviour.
punish always requires for before the reason.
My parents punished me with not letting me go out.
My parents punished me by not letting me go out.
use by (not with) before a gerund describing the method.

2. to state or prescribe a specific penalty for a particular type of crime — used o

2.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to state or prescribe a specific penalty for a particular type of crime — used of laws, regulations, or legal systems that set punishments for people found guilty of a certain offence

Example

The new law punishes anyone who sells alcohol to people under the age of twenty-one.

law punishes anyone who [commits crime] — formal legal register

In Texas, the law punishes identity theft with up to ten years in prison.

law punishes [crime] with [penalty] — legal penalty pattern

Common collocations
  • the law punishes
  • the statute punishes
  • a rule that punishes
  • punishable by law
Synonyms
  • penalise

    broader than this sense; used in non-legal contexts too

  • criminalise

    means to make an act illegal by law; different focus (declaring something a crime vs setting its penalty)

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

[law/rule/system] + punishes + [crime/offender]

[law] + punishes + [anyone who commits crime] + with [penalty]

Usage Note

The subject is always a law, rule, regulation, or legal system — never a person. The object may name either the offence itself (punish theft) or the type of offender (punish anyone who steals).

Common Mistakes

The court punishes stealing with prison.' (when referring to the law generally)
The law punishes stealing with prison.
use law, not court, for this sense.
The new rule punishes to smoke in the office.
The new rule punishes anyone who smokes in the office.
punish takes a noun object, not an infinitive.

3. to damage or harm something by using it too hard, too often, or without enough c

3.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to damage or harm something by using it too hard, too often, or without enough care — for example, a car engine driven too fast on rough roads, or a part of the body overused during exercise

Example

Eri punished her camera by taking it out in the heavy rain without any protection.

informal: punish an object through rough or careless use

The old truck's engine was punished by years of driving on unpaved mountain roads.

passive: [object] is punished by [rough treatment]

Common collocations
  • punish the engine
  • punish one's body
  • punish the equipment
  • punish the car
Synonyms
  • damage

    focuses on the result of the rough treatment rather than the action itself

  • mistreat

    broader; can apply to people or animals, not just objects

  • abuse

    stronger and more serious; implies deliberate harm

Antonyms
  • care for

    to treat something gently and maintain it properly

  • protect

    to keep something safe from damage

Grammar Patterns

punish + [body part / equipment / object]

[object] + be punished + by + [rough treatment]

Usage Note

Informal, often figurative. The direct object is typically a body part (knees, back) or equipment (engine, car, shoes). Not used for people in this sense.

Common Mistakes

The manager punished the printer by using it too much.' (ambiguous between sense 1 and sense 3)
For sense 3, clarify by context: 'The old printer was punished by non-stop use every single day.
the passive and non-human subject signal this figurative sense.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

These four words all involve imposing a penalty for wrongdoing, but they differ in context and formality. Punish is the most general word — any situation where someone is made to suffer for a fault or crime, from a parent grounding a child to a judge sending a criminal to prison. Penalise is more formal and narrower; it often appears in sports, tax law, or regulatory settings (a football team penalised for a foul; a company penalised for late filing). Discipline focuses on correcting behaviour through training or consequences, not on retribution — it is the usual word for parents and teachers dealing with children or for organisations managing employee conduct. Sentence is the most specific: it refers only to a court of law where a judge officially decides the punishment after a conviction. For example, a parent disciplines a child for lying, a referee penalises a player for a dangerous tackle, a judge sentences a convicted criminal to five years, and any of these situations can be broadly described as punishing the wrongdoer.

punish ↗penalisediscipline ↗sentence ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

The word punish entered English in the early 1300s from Old French punir, which came from Latin punire meaning 'to inflict a penalty on, to cause pain for an offence.' The Latin verb itself comes from poena, meaning 'penalty, punishment,' borrowed from Greek poinē, which originally referred to blood money or a fine paid to settle a killing. Over time the meaning shifted from paying compensation to actively imposing suffering as a consequence for wrongdoing.