■ verb
1》 inflict a penalty on as retribution for an offence.
↘inflict a penalty on someone for (an offence).
↘ informal capitalize on (an opponent's mistake).
2》 treat harshly or severely.
Derivatives
~able adjective
~er noun
~ing adjective
~ingly adverb
Origin
ME: from OFr. puniss- , lengthened stem of punir '~', from L. punire , from poena 'penalty'.