Oxford Thesaurus - An A-Z Dictionary Of Synonyms

exhausting, tiring, wearying, fatiguing, wearing, taxing, demanding, burdensome, back-breaking, torturous: Laying railway track was the most punishing job I ever had. This punishing schedule is beginning to tell on me.

punishment

n. 1 chastisement, chastising, castigation, castigating, discipline, disciplining, chastening, scolding, rebuke, reproof, dressing-down, admonishment, admonition, correction, punitive measures: Every society must continually revise its approach to the punishment of criminals. 2 penance, penalty, sentence, sentencing, just deserts; imprisonment, incarceration, jailing

or Brit also gaoling; lashing, flogging, beating, whipping, scourging, spanking, caning, birching, US paddling; exile, banishment, excommunication, cashiering; hanging, execution, electrocution, drawing and quartering: Her punishment is to perform 20 hours a week of public service for a year. Stop whimpering and take your punishment like a man. 3 injury, harm, damage, abuse, maltreatment, mauling, beating, thrashing, trouncing, manhandling, battering, torture: How are

professional wrestlers able to withstand so much punishment?

punitive adj. chastening, castigatory, disciplinary, retributive, punitory, retaliatory, correctional: A punitive expedition was sent there to quell the colonists' uprising.

--n. 2 bet, wager, stake, gamble: In roulette, Janet always placed her punt on number 14.

punter n. 1 Brit better or US also bettor, gambler, gamester, player, speculator, backer, wagerer, Brit punt, Colloq crap-shooter:

tiro or tyro, Chiefly ecclesiastical catechumen: A number of Geoffrey's former pupils have organized a dinner to honour him.

puppet n. 1 hand puppet, finger-puppet, glove puppet, doll; marionette, string puppet: The children built a little theatre

and put on a puppet show. 2 figurehead, cat's-paw, pawn, dupe, tool, hireling, yes-man Colloq front (man), Slang stooge, sucker, patsy: He is without authority and is merely a puppet of the drug dealers. The army of occupation set up a puppet government to rule the country.

purchase v. 1 buy, acquire, procure, obtain, get, secure, pay for: He recently purchased a new personal computer and cannot get it to work. Not long ago, a shilling purchased a loaf of bread. 2 win, gain, achieve, realize, attain, obtain: His liberty was

purchased by the betrayal of his colleagues.

--n. 3 acquisition, acquiring, buying, purchasing, obtaining, securing, procurement: The purchase of books for the university library is the responsibility of Monica Turnbull. 4 buy, acquisition: Tom returned from the shop carrying his purchases.

pure-bred adj. full-blooded, thoroughbred, pedigreed: We raise only pure-bred Angus cattle.

purgative n. 1 laxative, cathartic, aperient, purge, physic, depurative: The doctor prescribed a mild purgative, and she felt much better next day.

--adj. 2 laxative, cathartic, aperient, evacuant, diuretic, depurative; abstergent: We were totally unprepared for the

adj. pointless, bootless, meaningless, empty, vacuous, senseless, aimless, rambling, discursive, wandering, disorganized, unorganized: He made what we thought was a purposeless trip to the branch office, but it ultimately proved invaluable.

purse n. 1 pouch, (money-)bag, wallet, pocket, Dialect poke, Highland dress sporran, US and Canadian (woman's) handbag, pocketbook, bag: The money goes out so fast I think there is a hole in my purse. 2 money, wealth, resources, funds, finances, exchequer, treasury, capital, revenue, income, means, cash, riches; pounds, shillings, and pence, L.S.D., dollars, shekels, Derogatory Mammon, pelf, (filthy) lucre, US almighty dollar, Slang Brit

ready or readies, lolly, dosh, loot, dough, US and Canadian bucks, scratch: The spread of capitalism shows that the power of a man's purse can transcend his political idealism. 3 prize, reward, award, present, gift: The purse for the next race will be 5,000 guineas.

--v. 4 pucker (up), contract, wrinkle, compress, press together: Robert pursed his lips thoughtfully.

pursue v. 1 follow, chase, go or run after, hunt (after or down or for or up), trace, trail, track, run down, take off after, dog,

stalk, shadow, Brit chivvy or chivy or chevy, Colloq tail: The police pursued the escaped convicts across the moor. 2 follow (up or on with), trace, carry on with, continue, conduct, devote or dedicate oneself to, cultivate, undertake, practise, persist

or persevere in, maintain, exercise, proceed with, adhere to, stay with, apply oneself to, Colloq stick with: If you pursue such a course, you are certain to land in jail. 3 aspire to, aim for, work for or toward(s), try or strive for, purpose, seek, search for, go in search of, quest after or for, be intent on, be bent upon or on: Jonathan is pursuing a doctorate in history at Oxford. 4 woo, (pay) court (to), seek the hand of, set (one's) cap for, Formal press (one's) suit with, pay suit or court or (one's) addresses to, Colloq set one's cap for, Slang chase (after): Jack is pursuing Jacquelyn with matrimony in mind.

pursuit n. 1 pursuing, chasing, following, hunting, hunt, going or running after, tracing, trailing, tracking, running down, dogging, stalking, shadowing, Brit chivvy or chivy or chevy,

up daisies.

--n. 13 shove, thrust, nudge: My car needs a push to get it started. 14 effort, energy, dynamism, drive, force, enterprise, ambition, vigour, determination, initiative, eagerness, spirit, enthusiasm, zeal, verve, Colloq get-up-and-go, zing, zip, gumption, go: If he had a bit more push, he might succeed. 15 campaign, attack, assault, advance, offensive, charge, onslaught, foray, sortie, invasion, incursion, raid, sally, blitzkrieg, blitz, strike: The troops were massed along the coast, ready for the big push inland. 16 the push. dismissal, notice, Colloq marching orders, Chiefly Brit the sack, the boot,

Chiefly US and Canadian walking papers, a pink slip: He'd been with the company for twenty years, but they still gave him the push when sales fell.

pushover n. 1 sure thing, Colloq piece of cake, child's play, snap, cinch, picnic, walk-over, US breeze, Slang cinch, Brit doddle, US lead-pipe cinch: The Latin exam was a pushover. 2 Colloq walk-over, chump, soft touch, soft or easy mark, easy prey or game, Slang patsy, sucker, stooge, sap, Brit mug, US and Canadian milquetoast: I spotted him at once as a pushover for the find-the-lady con.

pushy adj. forward, (self-)assertive, forceful, aggressive, obnoxious, arrogant, bumptious, brassy, brazen, impertinent, insolent, pushing, presumptuous, officious, loud, showy, cocky, brash, offensive, bold, Colloq cheeky: I hate pushy salesmen who won't take 'No' for an answer.

pussyfoot v. 1 sneak, creep, slink, prowl, steal, tiptoe: I wish she'd stop pussyfooting about the house. 2 beat about the bush, hem or hum and haw, equivocate, hesitate, be evasive, evade the issue, prevaricate, tergiversate, be noncommittal, be or sit on the fence, blow hot and cold: Don't pussyfoot with me - just come out and say what you really think.

his actions. 4 express, word, phrase; say, utter, write: How did they put it? - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...' To put it to you straight, shape up or ship out! Can you put that into French? 5 offer, advance, bring forward, present, propose, submit, tender, set before: I put it to you that you have been lying to the court and that you did leave your house that night. 6 bet, gamble, wager, stake, play, chance, risk, hazard: I put two pounds on the horse to win. 7 throw, heave, toss, fling, cast, pitch, bowl, lob, send, shy, shoot, snap, catapult: How far did you say you can put a 10-pound shot? 8 place, assign, attribute, lay, pin, attach, fix: They try to put the blame on me for

everything that goes wrong around here. 9 put about. broadcast, publish, make known, publicize, announce, spread about or around: They have been putting about some story linking the two of us romantically. 10 put across or over. make clear, get

across, make (something or oneself) understood or understandable, explain, spell out, convey, communicate: She is quite adept at putting across her ideas. 11 put aside. set or

lay aside, ignore, disregard, pay no heed to, push aside, shrug off: They put aside their differences and discovered they had much in common. Isn't it time you put aside childish things? 12 put aside or by or away. lay aside or by, set aside; save,

store, stow or store or salt or squirrel away, lay away, cache, bank: You ought to put a little money aside for a rainy day. 13 put away. a See 12, above. b jail or Brit also gaol, imprison, incarcerate, Colloq send, jug, confine, commit,

institutionalize, remand, Brit send down, US send up: She wants rapists and child molesters put away for a long, long time. c

See 16 (d), below. d consume, gorge, gormandize or US also gourmandize: It is unbelievable how much that man can put away at one sitting. 14 put back. return, replace, restore: He

insists that he put back all the money he took. Put the pictures back where they belong. 15 put by. See 12, above. 16 put down. a record, register, write down, set down, enter, list; log, note (down), jot down, make a note or notation of: You may put me down for a contribution of œ5. Please put down your name and address in the box provided. b depose, put an end to, topple, crush, overthrow, subdue, suppress, check, quash, quell: The loyalists put down the rebellion in short order. c ascribe, assign, attribute: The doctor put my feelings of fatigue and listlessness down to anaemia. d kill, exterminate, destroy, put

to death, put to sleep, put away, do away with: We had to have

our cat put down, which was very upsetting for us all. e abash, humiliate, crush, silence, mortify, lower, take down (a peg or a notch), shame, snub, deflate, slight, reject, dismiss: Waiters

have a way of putting people down if they behave presumptuously. f take for, reckon, account, count, categorize, regard: Don't

put Martin down as a dunce just because he acts the fool now and then. g belittle, diminish, disparage, deprecate, depreciate, criticize, disdain, look down on, despise, contemn: They deny being prejudiced, but they put down everyone who isn't exactly like them. 17 put forth. a propose, offer, set forth, advance: Several theories have been put forth on the function of mitochondrial DNA. b grow, produce, send out or forth, bud, flower: When the plant puts forth suckers, they must be pinched back. c begin, set out, set forth, start: We put forth on our voyage with great enthusiasm. d promulgate, issue, publish, make known, make public: The committee have not put forth any suggestions for improving traffic flow. 18 put forward. a

propose, present, tender, nominate, name; recommend: Your name has been put forward as chair for next year's committee. b suggest, offer, propose, set forth, put forth, present, submit,

tender, proffer, introduce, advance, propound, air, make known, announce: No new solutions to the problem were put forward. 19 put in. a insert, introduce: Why did you put in a reference to your mother? b spend, devote: During the holiday season I plan to put in a lot of time to reading. c make: So, you finally

decided to put in an appearance. 20 put in for. a apply for, request, ask for, petition for: He has put in for a transfer twice and has been refused both times. b seek, apply for, pursue, file: Do you really think that Jamieson will put in for re-election? 21 put off. a postpone, delay, defer, put back, stay, hold off, shelve, put or set aside, Chiefly US put over, table: Consideration of your request has been put off till tomorrow. b dismiss, get rid of, send away, turn away;

discourage, Colloq give (someone) the brush-off, US brush off: The manager put me off when I went in to ask about a salary increase. c dismay, disconcert, upset, confuse, disturb, perturb, abash, distress, Colloq throw, rattle: Curiously, Michael didn't seem a bit put off to learn about the murder. d repel, disgust, sicken, revolt, nauseate: That television programme on open-heart surgery really put me off. e leave, depart, go (off), set off: We put off tomorrow morning for Rockall. 22 put on. a don, clothe or attire or dress (oneself) in, get dressed in, change or slip into: We put on our best