How to Use punish in a Sentence

punish

verb
  • She was punished for lying.
  • State law punishes fraud with fines.
  • His parents punished him by taking away his allowance.
  • I think that murderers should be punished by life imprisonment.
  • How should I punish my child's misbehavior?
  • The book store’s owner, Mr. Mooney, would lock Joe in the cage as a young boy to punish him.
    Amy MacKelden, ELLE, 10 Mar. 2023
  • The whole student body are thus to be punished for the actions of just a few.
    Jessica Kiang, Variety, 22 Sep. 2024
  • He was allowed to briefly cause chaos and in the end was not punished for his antics.
    Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023
  • The misdemeanor crime can be punished with up to three months in jail.
    Shelly Bradbury, The Denver Post, 21 Feb. 2024
  • Some of them were even prepared to punish Biden for it at the ballot box.
    Monica Potts, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2024
  • The defense fails to step out, and Dame punishes them with a pull-up three that finds the bottom of the net.
    Brian Sampson, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024
  • In order to punish the Pharaoh to free the Israelites, God sent a series of 10 plagues to Egypt.
    Holly Rizzuto Palker, Parents, 17 Sep. 2023
  • Any violent crime should, of course, be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
    Charlotte Observer, 13 Feb. 2024
  • None of the 60 students involved in the photo were punished.
    Steven Martinez, Journal Sentinel, 7 June 2024
  • His sentence this week marked the end of a five-year-old case that sought to punish the bribe taker and the bribe giver.
    Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, 7 Nov. 2024
  • For Lalas, that’s punishing Mas for investing in his team and the league.
    Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024
  • Beterbiev would likely punish Paul the way his haters are thirsty to see.
    Brian Mazique, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
  • Hansen felt that she was being punished and struggled not to cry.
    Sharon Lerner, ProPublica, 20 May 2024
  • Yet this is in no way a jarring picture, or one that seeks to punish us with harsh truths.
    Stephanie Zacharek, TIME, 12 July 2024
  • If so, why should Pharaoh be punished for refusing to allow the Jews to leave Egypt?
    Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2024
  • Your daughter is using your love for the grands to punish you for not forking over even more.
    Jeanne Phillips, The Mercury News, 4 June 2024
  • Maybe people in charge of the decision want to punish you for leaving, or just have it in for you.
    Karla Miller, Washington Post, 20 June 2024
  • In fact, the public policy is that the state cannot punish a person based on the content of their speech.
    Jack Greiner, The Enquirer, 3 July 2023
  • Those who violate the law face a misdemeanor that can be punished with up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
    Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY, 15 Aug. 2024
  • Alexander said the Khan case isn’t proof of greater fraud but proof that anyone who attempts it will be punished.
    Mackenzie Mays, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2024
  • The Giants’ only bright spot was a home run by Jorge Soler, who punished one 410 feet to left field for his fourth home run of the year.
    Jason Mastrodonato, The Mercury News, 20 Apr. 2024
  • Jackson punished the child by spanking her with a belt, police said.
    Amy McDaniel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 May 2024
  • The respondents counter that the city is punishing them for their very survival.
    Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Apr. 2024
  • Ultimately, a cult developed around the legend that Apollo could both punish kings with rodents and protect farmers and their goods and crops from the scourge of pests by dispatching them with his arrows.
    John Oseid, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
  • By the 1960s, shortly before the school became an accredited public high school, tribal clubs and language and cultural practices were welcomed, not punished.
    Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'punish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: