banish
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to expel from or relegate to a country or place by authoritative decree; condemn to exile.
He was banished to Devil's Island.
- Synonyms:
- deport, outlaw, expatriate, exile
-
to compel to depart; send, drive, or put away.
to banish sorrow.
verb
-
to expel from a place, esp by an official decree as a punishment
-
to drive away
to banish gloom
Other Word Forms
- banisher noun
- banishment noun
- self-banished adjective
- unbanished adjective
Etymology
Origin of banish
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English banisshen, from Anglo-French, Old French baniss-, long stem of banir, from unrecorded Frankish bannjan “to proclaim,” akin to ban 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The bear was an empty husk, for the Spirit had banished the demon to the Otherworld.
From Literature
And then something happens that banishes even that mystery from my head.
From Literature
He also claims that the prince fears that his brother, the future king, "could remove all the Sussexes' titles and effectively banish him from Britain".
From BBC
History reminds us big stand offs between London and Washington, such as the UK resisting American pressure to send troops to Vietnam, don't have to banish relations to a perpetual deep freeze.
From BBC
Even Ron Funches joked on Instagram that he wanted some salmon “to go” after he was banished.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
