1. 處罰；懲罰 Punishment is the act of punishing someone or of being punished.
e.g. ...a group which campaigns against the physical punishment of children... 一個(gè)反對體罰兒童的團體 e.g. I have no doubt that the man is guilty and that he deserves punishment. 我毫不懷疑此人是罪有應得。
2. 處罰（或懲罰）方式 A punishment is a particular way of punishing someone.
e.g. The government is proposing tougher punishments for officials convicted of corruption... 政府提議對已被定罪的貪污腐敗官員實(shí)施更為嚴厲的懲罰。 e.g. The usual punishment is a fine. 通常處以罰款。
3. 粗暴對待；虐待；糟蹋 You can use punishment to refer to severe physical treatment of any kind.
e.g. Don't expect these types of boot to take the punishment that gardening will give them. 不要指望能穿著(zhù)這類(lèi)靴子去干園藝活兒，它們沒(méi)那么耐穿耐磨。
4. see also: capital punishment;corporal punishment