banishment
Americannoun
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expulsion from a country, place, or position by authoritative decree, or the state of having been expelled.
A royal proclamation ordered the banishment of all priests from the city.
The team’s wide receiver flunked another drug test and will now be subject to a one-year banishment, according to league sources.
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the act of driving away, or the state of having been sent away or driven out.
We strive for the preservation of peace and the banishment of tyranny and slavery from the earth.
The decades after World War II were marked not by disarmament and the banishment of war but by ceaseless confrontation and the division of the world into hostile blocs.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of banishment
Explanation
When someone is punished by being made to leave a particular place, it's called banishment. If your new puppy chews up another of your dad's shoes, it may mean banishment to the backyard. In the old days, banishment was a common punishment for serious crimes — exiling someone from their town or village was shameful, leaving them estranged from their family and community. One particularly well-known banishment occurs in the Bible, when Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden. Today it's more common to use this word in a less serious way: "My banishment from the kitchen was inevitable after I broke three glasses in a row."
Vocabulary lists containing banishment
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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.
Unfortunately, it fell to Amol Rajan to become the Paloma Faith of this series - being taken away in a coffin in episode two before even having the chance to take part in a banishment.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
If the league finds he committed another violation, Jackson could face a six-game suspension or possible banishment for at least one year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The opprobrium that ensued in the course of a shamelessly one-sided trial shredded their reputations, cost them their jobs and led to an incurable banishment from public life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Let’s say you were ordered deported and you now faced banishment from your country.
From Slate ● Feb. 17, 2026
By the time Cicero reaches his peroration, he has asked something in the order of fifty questions to Catiline—each designed to make his failure to go into voluntary banishment look bizarre and unnatural.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
