Word of the Day 7.26.9

castigate

cas·ti·gate (kst-gt)

tr.v. cas·ti·gat·ed, cas·ti·gat·ing, cas·ti·gates

1. To inflict severe punishment on. See Synonyms at punish.

2. To criticize severely.

[Latin castgre, castgt-, from castus, pure; see kes- in Indo-European roots.]

casti·gation n.

casti·gator n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Verb

1.

castigate – censure severely; “She chastised him for his insensitive remarks”

flame – criticize harshly, usually via an electronic medium; “the person who posted an inflammatory message got flamed”

call on the carpet, chew out, chew up, chide, dress down, have words, bawl out, berate, rebuke, reproof, scold, take to task, call down, lambast, lambaste, lecture, reprimand, remonstrate, trounce, jaw, rag – censure severely or angrily; “The mother scolded the child for entering a stranger’s car”; “The deputy ragged the Prime Minister”; “The customer dressed down the waiter for bringing cold soup”

2.

castigate – inflict severe punishment on

penalise, penalize, punish – impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on; “The students were penalized for showing up late for class”; “we had to punish the dog for soiling the floor again”

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

Posted on July 26, 2009 by admin

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