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corporal punishment

corporal punishment

11 5.7
Physical hitting of a person to make them obey rules
  • noun
  • /ˈkɔrpərəl ˈpʌnɪʃmənt/
  • Offensive
translation icon : castigo corporal
  • Thirty-eight states have laws that prohibit the use of corporal punishment.
  • the use of corporal punishment
  • administer corporal punishment
  • receive corporal punishment

Now, one of the key aspects of pedagogy at the time is corporal punishment, beating, beating students.

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Examples

  • The committee members should receive supervision and training in the use of corporal punishment.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The school should identify a committee that will be responsible for the implementation and monitoring of corporal punishment.

    Academic text (1992)
  • But then he talked a little bit about why they stopped doing corporal punishment in English schools.

  • The teacher may decide that the student needs to receive corporal punishment.

    Academic text (1992)
  • For example, rural schools used corporal punishment and suspension without services more often than schools in other locations.

    Academic text (2008)
  • We don't use corporal punishment here.

  • In the Caribbean, corporal punishment is a common and traditional means of disciplining children.

    Academic text (1992)
  • As a result, we are rather pessimistic that corporal punishment will be banned in the immediate future.

    Academic text (1991)
  • We believe that the evidence we have discussed forcefully argues for the banning of corporal punishment from American public schools.

    Academic text (1991)
  • The school board is debating whether to reinstate corporal punishment for students who break the rules.

Synonyms

beating
vscorporal punishment
  • NSFW
276 4.2

Hitting a person many times as punishment or violence

is the specific legal or disciplinary practice of striking as penalty
spanking
vscorporal punishment
33 4.8

A hit on a child's bottom as punishment

is the general practice of striking for discipline across ages and settings
whipping
vscorporal punishment
  • Offensive
22 3.8

Beating a person or animal with a whip as punishment

covers that method but also other forms of strike-based penalty
lashing
vscorporal punishment
  • NSFW
6 7.0

Beating someone with a whip or strap as punishment

is the wider practice of striking as a formal penalty or discipline
thrashing
vscorporal punishment
  • Offensive
6 6.7

A severe beating given to someone as punishment

is the official category of strike-based discipline, not only severe cases
flagellation
vscorporal punishment
  • Offensive
4 9.9

Beating the body as a religious ceremony, as punishment, or for sexual pleasure

is limited to punishment by striking for legal or disciplinary reasons
caning
vscorporal punishment
  • NSFW
4 6.9

To punish someone by hitting them with a stick

is more general, including many strike methods beyond a single instrument
flogging
vscorporal punishment
  • NSFW
1 8.0

An act of beating someone with a whip as punishment

includes that technique but encompasses any sanctioned striking as discipline
paddling
vscorporal punishment
  • Offensive
1 5.1

A light spanking with a flat board used as punishment

is the broader category of sanctioned striking, including harsher methods
tanning
vscorporal punishment
  • NSFW
1 9.9

A beating with a strap or rope given as punishment

is the formal practice that the older informal term describes
drubbing
vscorporal punishment
1 8.6

A severe beating given as punishment

is the general sanctioned striking, not necessarily unusually severe
bastinado
vscorporal punishment
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A punishment that involves beating the soles of someone's feet with a stick

is the general strike-based penalty rather than a specific torture method
lacing
vscorporal punishment
  • Offensive
9.4

A severe beating that someone gets as punishment

is the broader idea of striking someone as a legal or disciplinary penalty
to kiss the gunner's daughter
vscorporal punishment
  • NSFW
9.9

To be whipped as punishment while bent over a cannon

is the general modern notion of sanctioned striking for discipline or crime

Antonyms

26 4.6

Not being strict when judging or punishing someone

How Physical

torture
  • Offensive
262 7.1
corporal punishment
  • Offensive
11 5.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

corporal + punishment

The meaning 'physical punishment' is directly derivable from combining 'corporal' (bodily/physical) with 'punishment' (a penalty); a learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE. This compositional pattern is common across languages (e.g., Spanish 'castigo corporal'), reinforcing its predictability for B1 learners.

Etymology

Corporal punishment comes from an old word: corporal meant 'body', so the phrase literally meant punishment of the body. That's why corporal punishment means 'physical punishment', like hitting or beating.