Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

To punish someone

punish

verb

to make someone suffer because they have done something against the law or against the rules

discipline

verb

to punish someone for something they have done wrong

penalize

verb

to punish someone for breaking a rule or law

mete out

to give a punishment to someone

hand down

to say officially that someone should receive a particular punishment

make an example of someone

to punish someone severely as a way of warning other people not to do the same thing

teach someone a lesson

to punish someone for doing something bad so that they do not do it again

deal out

to give a punishment to someone

administer

verb

to give someone a punishment

take the law into your own hands

to punish someone in your own way without involving the police or the courts, often by doing something illegal yourself

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

dray

a type of cart pulled by a horse and used in the past for carrying barrels of beer

Open Dictionary

conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog