on pain of

Idioms  

1. Also, under pain of. Subject to the penalty of a specific punishment. For example, The air traffic controllers knew that going on strike was on pain of losing their jobs. At one time this idiom often invoked death as the penalty, a usage that is largely hyperbolic today, as in We'd better be back on time, under pain of death. [Late 1300s]

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Example Sentences

But the state laws and the NLRB’s ruling make the same distinctions between meetings at which attendance is voluntary, and those that workers are required to attend on pain of discipline.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 9, 2025

"Judge Chutkan will probably have to impose a gag order forbidding them, on pain of going to jail – where Trump will likely wind up if the threats continue," he added.

From Salon • Aug. 7, 2023

And “it can demand that the elector actually live up to his pledge, on pain of penalty,” she wrote.

From New York Times • Jul. 6, 2020

Like his predecessors in impeachment trials, Stenger warns the senators, staff and public that they are “commanded to keep silent, on pain of imprisonment,” while the trial goes on.

From Washington Post • Jan. 23, 2020

Then he warned her solemnly not to be persuaded by anyone to try to see him, on pain of being separated from him forever.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton