Search Result for "punishing": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (2)

1. resulting in punishment;
- Example: "the king imposed a punishing tax"

2. characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort;
- Example: "worked their arduous way up the mining valley"
- Example: "a grueling campaign"
- Example: "hard labor"
- Example: "heavy work"
- Example: "heavy going"
- Example: "spent many laborious hours on the project"
- Example: "set a punishing pace"
[syn: arduous, backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Punish \Pun"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Punished; p. pr. & vb. n. Punishing.] [OE. punischen, F. punir, from L. punire, punitum, akin to poena punishment, penalty. See Pain, and -ish.] 1. To impose a penalty upon; to afflict with pain, loss, or suffering for a crime or fault, either with or without a view to the offender's amendment; to cause to suffer in retribution; to chasten; as, to punish traitors with death; a father punishes his child for willful disobedience. [1913 Webster] A greater power Now ruled him, punished in the shape he sinned. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. To inflict a penalty for (an offense) upon the offender; to repay, as a fault, crime, etc., with pain or loss; as, to punish murder or treason with death. [1913 Webster] 3. To injure, as by beating; to pommel. [Low] [1913 Webster] 4. To deal with roughly or harshly; -- chiefly used with regard to a contest; as, our troops punished the enemy. [Colloq. or Slang] [Webster 1913 Suppl.] Syn: To chastise; castigate; scourge; whip; lash; correct; discipline. See Chasten. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

punishing adj 1: resulting in punishment; "the king imposed a punishing tax" 2: characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort; "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" [syn: arduous, backbreaking, grueling, gruelling, hard, heavy, laborious, operose, punishing, toilsome]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

53 Moby Thesaurus words for "punishing": Herculean, arduous, backbreaking, burdensome, castigatory, chastening, chastising, corrective, crushing, demanding, disciplinary, draining, effortful, exhausting, fatiguesome, fatiguing, forced, grueling, hard, hard-earned, hard-fought, heavy, hefty, inflictive, killing, labored, laborious, onerous, operose, oppressive, painful, penal, penological, punitive, punitory, retributive, strained, straining, strenuous, stressful, taxing, tiresome, tiring, toilsome, torturous, tough, troublesome, trying, uphill, weariful, wearing, wearisome, wearying