- a penalty or sanction given for any crime or offence
- the act of punishing or state of being punished
- informal rough treatment
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pun•ish•ment /ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [uncountable] the act of punishing;
the fact of being punished. - a penalty assigned to or imposed for an offense or fault:[countable]The punishment was a year in jail.
- severe or harsh handling or treatment:[uncountable]This car has taken a lot of punishment over the years.
pun•ish•ment
(pun′ish mənt),USA pronunciation n.
- the act of punishing.
- the fact of being punished, as for an offense or fault.
- a penalty inflicted for an offense, fault, etc.
- severe handling or treatment.
- Anglo-French punisement, Old French punissement. See punish, -ment
- Middle English punysshement 1250–1300
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
punishment /ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/ n