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chastise

[chas-tahyz, chas-tahyz]
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verb (used with object), chas·tised, chas·tis·ing.
  1. to discipline, especially by corporal punishment.
  2. to criticize severely.
  3. Archaic. to restrain; chasten.
  4. Archaic. to refine; purify.
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Origin of chastise

1275–1325; Middle English chastisen, equivalent to chasti(en) to chasten + -s- < ? + -en infinitive suffix
Related formschas·tis·a·ble, adjectivechas·tise·ment [chas-tiz-muhnt, chas-tahyz-] /ˈtʃæs tɪz mənt, tʃæsˈtaɪz-/, nounchas·tis·er, nounnon·chas·tise·ment, nounself-chas·tise, verb (used with object), self·-chas·tised, self·-chas·tis·ing.self-chas·tise·ment, nounun·chas·tis·a·ble, adjectiveun·chas·tised, adjectiveun·chas·tis·ing, adjective

Synonyms

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1. punish, castigate; whip, beat, flog, spank.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

punish, censure, berate, upbraid, castigate, lash, flog, ream, chasten, pummel, scourge, beat, spank, baste, thrash, correct, whip, ferule, skelp

Examples from the Web for chastise

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "Ready to chastise insolence, sir," cried Alleyne with flashing eyes.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • If he should appear in mine, I know how to chastise him, and to vindicate my own honour.

  • I wish to God I were a younger man, that I might chastise you for the hound you are.

  • She had a desire to chastise thought by strong, bracing action.

    A Spirit in Prison

    Robert Hichens

  • Who is so foolish as to chastise or instruct the ugly, or the diminutive, or the feeble?

British Dictionary definitions for chastise

chastise

verb (tr)
  1. to discipline or punish, esp by beating
  2. to scold severely
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Derived Formschastisable, adjectivechastisement (ˈtʃæstɪzmənt, tʃæsˈtaɪz-), nounchastiser, noun

Word Origin

C14 chastisen, irregularly from chastien to chasten
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for chastise

v.

c.1300, chastisen, from Old French chastiier "to warn, advise, instruct; chastise, admonish; punish; dominate, tame" (12c., Modern French châtier), from Latin castigare "to set or keep right, to reprove, chasten, to punish," literally "to make pure" (see castigate). Or perhaps from Middle English chastien (see chasten) + -ise, though this would be early for such a native formation. The form of the modern word "is not easily accounted for" [OED]. Related: Chastised; chastising.

He alone may chastise who loves. [Rabindranath Tagore, "The Crescent Moon," 1913]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper