the act of causing someone to suffer a penalty for doing something wrong, or the penalty itself
The judge gave the thief a harsh punishment.
Some parents believe gentle methods work better than corporal punishment.
✦ from Middle English punishement, from Old French punissement, based on Latin punīre “to punish”
rough treatment, damage, or strain that something or someone endures
After driving across the desert, the tires had taken a lot of punishment.
The old laptop still works despite years of punishment.
✦ figurative extension of the primary sense of suffering a penalty, first recorded in English in the late 19th century in sports writing
