punishing

• IPA^(key): /ˈpʌnɪʃɪŋ/

punishing (comparative more punishing, superlative most punishing)

1. That punishes physically and/or mentally; arduous, gruelling, demanding.
   • 2010, Kathleen C. Winters, Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American Icon, St. Martin's Press, →ISBN, page 90:

     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.

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

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

   • 2016, Tamara Gill, Only an Earl Will Do, Entangled: Select Historical (→ISBN)

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

2. (figuratively) Debilitating, harsh.
   • 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.

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

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

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

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

   a punishing blow

• punishingly

punishing (plural punishings)

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

     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 […]

punishing

1. present participle and gerund of punish