Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Penalty
1.
Penal retribution; punishment for crime or offense; the suffering in person or property which is annexed by law or judicial decision to the commission of a crime, offense, or trespass.
Death is the
penalty
imposed. Milton.
2.
The suffering, or the sum to be forfeited, to which a person subjects himself by covenant or agreement, in case of nonfulfillment of stipulations; forfeiture; fine.
The
penalty
and forfeit of my bond. Shakespeare
3.
A handicap.
[Sporting Cant]
☞ The term penalty is in law mostly applied to a pecuniary punishment.
Bill of pains and penalties
. See under
– Bill
. On penalty of
, or Under penalty of
on pain of; with exposure to the penalty of, in case of transgression.
Webster 1828 Edition
Penalty
PEN'ALTY
, n.1.
The suffering in person or property which is annexed by law or judicial decision to the commission of a crime, offense or trespass, as a punishment. A fine is a pecuniary penalty. The usual penalties inflicted on the person, are whipping, cropping, branding, imprisonment, hard labor, transportation or death.2.
The suffering to which a person subjects himself by covenant or agreement, in case of non-fulfillment of his stipulations; the forfeiture or sum to be forfeited for non-payment, or for non-compliance with an agreement; as the penalty of a bond.Definition 2024
penalty
penalty
See also: pénalty
English
Alternative forms
- pœnalty (archaic)
Noun
penalty (plural penalties)
- A legal sentence.
- The penalty for his crime was to do hard labor.
- A punishment for violating rules of procedure.
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,
- Was it so irreconcilable, Warwick wondered, as still to peal out the curfew bell, which at nine o'clock at night had clamorously warned all negroes, slave or free, that it was unlawful for them to be abroad after that hour, under penalty of imprisonment or whipping?
- 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,
- (finance) A payment forfeited for an early withdrawal from an account or an investment.
- (soccer) A direct free kick from the penalty spot, taken after a defensive foul in the penalty box; a penalty kick.
- (ice hockey) A punishment for an infraction of the rules, often in the form of being removed from play for a specified amount of time.
- A penalty was called when he tripped up his opponent.
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations
legal sentence
|
|
punishment for violating rules of procedure
|
|
penalty kick — see penalty kick
punishment in ice hockey
Derived terms
Derived terms
See also
Anagrams
Dutch
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: pe‧nal‧ty
Etymology
Borrowing from English penalty.
Noun
penalty m (plural penalty's, diminutive penalty'tje n)