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.
In practice, though, the museum friends and the beach friends are forming opposing factions, and the vegetarian friend is hovering between malnourishment and total banishment.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
If the NFL were to determine that Jackson violated its personal conduct policy, he could be subject to a six-game suspension or banishment from the league, with an opportunity to appeal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
The first time the chests of chance were wheeled out to settle a banishment vote was back in episode five, when contestants couldn't decide whether to evict Reece or Amanda.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026
Part hobo, part insult comic, part performance artist, Diogenes flaunted his disregard for convention in ways that scandalized the bourgeoisie of Athens and, later, Corinth, after his banishment from Sinope became permanent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
He didn’t know all the ins and outs of banishment, but he did remember Luxa saying that no one survived living in the Underland alone for long.
From "Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins
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.
