punishing Meaning, Definition & Usage

1. verb impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on
   penalize; punish; penalise.
   
   • The students were penalized for showing up late for class
   • we had to punish the dog for soiling the floor again
2. adjective resulting in punishment
   
   • the king imposed a punishing tax
3. adjective satellite characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
   heavy; toilsome; grueling; operose; backbreaking; hard; arduous; gruelling; laborious.
   
   • worked their arduous way up the mining valley
   • a grueling campaign
   • hard labor
   • heavy work
   • heavy going
   • spent many laborious hours on the project
   • set a punishing pace

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