1Subject to some form of punishment.

1. 1.1 (in various sports) punish (a player or team) for a breach of the rules by awarding an advantage to the opposition.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The ultimate aim is that it is going to penalise teams who do not play by the rules.
   • It's a bit like penalising a football team for the players' misbehaviour.
   • In union, video evidence can also be used to cite a player for misconduct, or for the committee to consider penalising a player after the game.
   • In addition, the offending team is penalised 52 points.
   • He's penalising players for all sorts of minor infractions and generally doing his best to ruin what started out as a promising game.
   • They would cheer when a goal was scored, boo when the umpires penalized their favorite player, and jump up and down in glee when they won the game.
   • My advice for next year is to avoid leagues that penalize players for having too large a role in the offense.
   • By 1994, the league added a ‘taunting’ clause to its technical-foul rule to, in effect, penalize a player for non-verbal trash talking.
   • These actions are tempting because they enable greater control, but they are illegal and a decent referee will be sure penalize the player in a game.
   • Sometimes, it is evident that a referee has misjudged the position of players and unduly penalised one of the teams, but why does this happen?
   • In some respects, teams are almost penalized for converting first downs in the two-minute drill because it just takes that much longer to get the next play off.
   • But if a team is penalized on the ensuing kickoff, maybe the players involved will think twice about hip-hopping in the end zone as if auditioning for a rock show.
   • In fact, this is the fourth straight year players have been penalized for more false starts.
   • Basketball is supposed to be a non-contact sport and referees penalise players that bump, barge and shove an opponent.
   • However, penalized players must continue to finish the hand as if they did not renege.
   • The offending player is automatically penalized with one strike and no points for the round, and the round is declared void.
   • If the ball strikes the flagstick, the player is penalized two strokes (loss of hole in match play) and the ball is played as it lies.
   • But they got it wrong when they voted to allow officials to penalize teams 15 yards for any on-field celebration deemed excessive.
   • Before, the kicking team was penalized if a player came within 2 yards of a returner before he caught the ball.
   • The truth is that some teams are penalized more than others.

   Synonyms

   punish, discipline, inflict a penalty on, exact a penalty from, deal with, mete out punishment to, sentence, impose a sentence on, chastise, castigate, correct, chasten
2. 1.2 Put in an unfavorable position or at an unfair disadvantage.
   if the bill is not amended, genuine claimants will be penalized

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Introducing the value of farmland into the assessment process would unfairly and severely penalize farm families, whose farmland land bears little relationship to its earning potential.
   • Just as you must be diligent in increasing your link popularity and your ranking, you must be equally diligent to avoid being unfairly penalized.
   • Physicians and hospitals fear the practice could unfairly penalize practitioners and say there's no way to benchmark quality accurately.
   • The motor industry and opposition parties have described the 12% increase in motor tax as a devious measure which unfairly penalises drivers.
   • Although a child can be thrown out of a school if false information has been used, most councils said they would not consider this as it was unfair to penalise pupils for their parents' wrongdoing.
   • Previous reports had shown the British haulage industry was unfairly penalised.
   • He claims it's unfair that businesses should be penalised for the actions of irresponsible customers and members of the public and has called for the law to be changed.
   • All of them have the disadvantage of penalizing the investor for selling the fund, even years after purchase.
   • Others simply whined that though their site contained commercial material, it also contains valuable content and was unfairly penalized.
   • It is demeaning to be wholly dependent on others, and unfair that temporary disability is penalised.
   • It says this unfairly penalises fans of big clubs, who are charged more.
   • The Body Mass Index, it now turns out, is a useless indicator of healthy weight, since it unfairly penalises women for their natural pear-shape.
   • The institute added that the move could result in low workforce morale and high turnover rates if it led to genuinely sick employees believing they were being penalised unfairly.
   • If no such notice in given, the claimant can be penalised in terms of costs.
   • This means that a privatised health care system would unfairly penalise women.
   • Some felt coursework penalised boys, especially those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
   • I believe it is unfair to penalise parents who miss the payment of this allowance due to this.
   • But owners pleaded that they built ships to the standards applicable at the time of construction, and that their early demise would penalise them unfairly.
   • There will still be a lot of people penalised by the unfairness of the council tax.
   • The fines have already caused a backlash among some residents who fear they will be unfairly penalised for leaving their rubbish out for collection.

   Synonyms

   handicap, inflict a handicap on, unfairly disadvantage, put at an unfair disadvantage, put in an unfavourable position, cause to suffer, put a stumbling block in the way of, put a hindrance in the way of, put a impediment in the way of
3. 1.3Law Make or declare (an act or offense) legally punishable.
   section twenty penalizes possession of a firearm when trespassing

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The statutory objective is to penalise the unauthorised possession of dangerous or otherwise harmful drugs.
   • This duty of a commanding officer has heretofore been recognized, and its breach penalized by our own military tribunals.
   • For instance, some courts have used this approach to subject laws penalizing same-sex relationships to a heightened scrutiny - such as a law prohibiting the issuance of a marriage license to two people of the same sex.
   • It discharges this function in many cases, but in many others it remains silent, merely enacting a provision which appears to penalize an act or an omission without any reference to fault.
   • If there is a reason for treating the two categories of entrant differently it must be in order to penalise the trespasser's wrongdoing.

   Synonyms

   prohibit, forbid, ban, outlaw, bar, veto, embargo, declare something a punishable offence, make something punishable, make illegal, disallow, proscribe, interdict