Overview of verb punish

The verb punish has 1 sense

• punish, penalize, penalise -- (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")

Overview of adj punishing

The adj punishing has 2 senses

• punishing -- (resulting in punishment; "the king imposed a punishing tax")


• arduous, backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome -- (characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort; "worked their arduous way up the mining valley"; "a grueling campaign"; "hard labor"; "heavy work"; "heavy going"; "spent many laborious hours on the project"; "set a punishing pace")