Definitions for punishment
ˈpʌn ɪʃ məntpun·ish·ment

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. punishment, penalty, penalization, penalisation(noun)

   the act of punishing

Wiktionary(3.75 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. punishment(Noun)

   The act or process of punishing, imposing and/or applying a sanction.

2. punishment(Noun)

   A penalty to punish wrongdoing, especially for crime.

3. punishment(Noun)

   A suffering by pain or loss imposed as retribution

4. punishment(Noun)

   Any treatment or experience so harsh it feels like being punished; rough handling

   a vehicle that can take a lot of punishment

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Punishment(noun)

   the act of punishing

2. Punishment(noun)

   any pain, suffering, or loss inflicted on a person because of a crime or offense

3. Punishment(noun)

   a penalty inflicted by a court of justice on a convicted offender as a just retribution, and incidentally for the purposes of reformation and prevention

Freebase(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Punishment

   Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something undesirable or unpleasant on, or the removal of something desirable or pleasant from, a person, animal, organization or entity in response to behavior deemed unacceptable by an individual, group or other entity. The authority may be either a group or a single person, and punishment may be carried out formally under a system of law or informally in other kinds of social settings such as within a family. Negative consequences that are not authorized or that are administered without a breach of rules are not considered to be punishment as defined here. The study and practice of the punishment of crimes, particularly as it applies to imprisonment, is called penology, or, often in modern texts, corrections; in this context, the punishment process is euphemistically called "correctional process". Research into punishment often includes similar research into prevention. Fundamental justifications for punishment include: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitations such as isolation in order to prevent the wrongdoer's having contact with potential victims. Of the four justifications, only retribution is part of the definition of punishment and none of the other justifications is a guaranteed outcome.

The Roycroft Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. punishment

   1. The justice that the guilty deal out to those who are caught. 2. A perpetual fine, imposed hourly during the lifetime of a human being for his temerity in living, and continued in Heaven or Hell for his temerity in dying. 3. Among the poor and lowly, a service due the State for disobeying the mandates of the rich and powerful; among the rich, a slight reaction from overeating. (There are three kinds of punishment: the punishment of God, the punishment of man, and the punishment of living in Buffalo.)

U.S. National Library of Medicine(4.25 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Punishment

   The application of an unpleasant stimulus or penalty for the purpose of eliminating or correcting undesirable behavior.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. punishment

   The execution of the sentence against an offender, as awarded by a court-martial, or adjudged by a superior officer.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'punishment' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4026

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'punishment' in Nouns Frequency: #1565

How to pronounce punishment?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say punishment in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of punishment in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of punishment in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of punishment in a Sentence

1. Max Nordau:

   Civilization is built on a number of ultimate principles...respect for human life, the punishment of crimes against property and persons, the equality of all good citizens before the law...or, in a word justice.

2. Anthony Kennedy:

   Perhaps it can be established that, due to exceptional circumstances, this fate was a just and proportionate punishment for the crime Henry Montgomery committed as a 17 year old boy.

3. Stanislaw J. Lec, Unkempt Thoughts:

   I am against using death as a punishment. I am also against using it as a reward.

4. Albert Einstein:

   A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.

5. Rahm Emanuel:

   We need to stop the revolving door for repeat gun offenders. These violent offenders must know that their punishment will match the seriousness of the crimes they committed and the value and the sanctity of the lives they have taken from their fellow family members.

Images & Illustrations of punishment

Popularity rank by frequency of use