banish

[ban-ish]

verb (used with object)

1. 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

2. to compel to depart; send, drive, or put away.

   to banish sorrow.

banish

/ ˈbænɪʃ /

verb

1. to expel from a place, esp by an official decree as a punishment

2. to drive away

   to banish gloom

Other Word Forms

• banisher noun
• banishment noun
• self-banished adjective
• unbanished adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of banish¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of banish¹

C14: from Old French banir , of Germanic origin; compare Old High German ban

Example Sentences

In case you’ve forgotten where “Stranger Things” left us, Vecna revealed that Eleven accidentally created him by banishing him to the Upside Down.

Read more on Salon

Still, there are promising pro-growth policies that the folks eating my turkey should acknowledge—before they banish me from the table.

Read more on Barron's

Wet socks are up there on my list of things that should be banished from existence.

Read more on Literature

Your brother is banished to the dark ages of the twenty-first century?

Read more on Literature

Banks and asset managers were pledging to go “net zero,” and Democrats in Washington were advancing a multitude of policies to banish fossil fuels.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• dismiss 
• dispel 
• drive away www.thesaurus.com
• eject 
• eliminate 
• eradicate 
• evict 
• exclude 
• exile 
• get rid of 
• isolate 
• ostracize 
• oust 
• outlaw 
• relegate 
• remove