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Punish

//ˈpʌnɪʃ// verb, slang

Definitions

Verb

1
To cause (a child, student, or someone else being looked after, or a suspect or criminal) to suffer for crime or misconduct, to administer disciplinary action, typically by an authority or a person in authority (for example: a parent, teacher, or police officer). transitive
"If a prince violates the law, then he must be punished like an ordinary person."
2
impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on wordnet
3
To treat harshly and unfairly. figuratively, transitive
"But each effort that Anna makes —and she has attempted many— meets with obstacles from a welfare bureaucracy that punishes single mothers for initiative and partial economic self-sufficiency."
4
To handle or beat severely; to maul. colloquial, transitive
5
To consume a large quantity of. colloquial, transitive
"A few moments later, we were all sitting around the veranda of the hunters' dining hall, punishing the gin, as usual."

Etymology

From Middle English punischen, from Anglo-Norman, Old French puniss-, stem of some of the conjugated forms of punir, from Latin puniō (“I inflict punishment upon”), from poena (“punishment, penalty”); see pain. Displaced Old English wītnian and (mostly, in this sense) wrecan.

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