punishing

comparative more punishing · superlative most punishing

1. That punishes physically and/or mentally; arduous, gruelling, demanding.

   They took off at a punishing speed, making London in less than half a day.

   2016, Tamara Gill, Only an Earl Will Do, Entangled: Select Historical

   2 more examples

   Upon Amelia's return from the West Coast in October, George presented her with a punishing schedule of lectures and appointments to promote the new book and solidify her position as America's foremost woman aviator.

   2010, Kathleen C. Winters, Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American Icon, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 90

   Regardless of the punishing heat and physicality, restaurant cooking is a calling many Chinese chefs cannot deny.

   2013, Grace Young, Alan Richardson, The Breath of a Wok, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 100

2. figurativelyDebilitating, harsh.

   a punishing blow

   3 more examples

   1999, Edward Gonzalez, Richard Nuccio, Rand Corporation. National Security Research Division, The Rand Forum on Cuba, Rand Corp Others argued that the worst of all outcomes after 40 years of a punishing embargo would be for the United States to adopt policies that might extend the life of a dictatorial regime.

   Public debt of this magnitude can provoke punishing tax rates and crowd out private investment.

   2010, Gary Clyde Hufbauer, Globalization at Risk, Yale University Press, →ISBN

   The apparent punishing effect of naloxone may be mediated through the withdrawal reaction that it produces[.]

   2016, David J. Sanger, Derek E. Blackman, Aspects of Psychopharmacology, Routledge, →ISBN

plural punishings

1. Punishment.

   We may not be convinced that God is as involved in historical punishings as the prophet claims, and we may have a strong negative reaction to the claims made for how God acts[…]

   2011, Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology, page 303

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of punish