punish
verb (used with object)
to subject to pain, loss, confinement, death, etc., as a penalty for some offense, transgression, or fault.
was punishing
-
past progressiveof punish.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
One of Concannon’s attorneys, Matthew Murphy, said he felt Ohta was punishing the defendants for exercising their right to challenge Ohta’s prior ruling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
The department said it was punishing them because they were “uncooperative” with its investigation, citing problems with their documentation including untranslated Italian words, undefined acronyms and failure to provide requested information.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2025
But in his decision Judge Charles Breyer said Mr Musk was "punishing the defendants for their speech".
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2024
On the Nov. 28, the news broke that the pope was punishing Cardinal Raymond Burke, a cantankerous traditionalist with a reputation for over-the-top sartorial choices.
From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2023
Zeus was punishing the whole camp because of me.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
