banish

[ ban-ish ]

verb (used with object)

1. to expel from or relegate to a country or place by authoritative decree; condemn to exile:

   He was banished to Devil's Island.

   Synonyms: deport, outlaw, expatriate, exile

2. to compel to depart; send, drive, or put away:

   to banish sorrow.

banish

/ ˈbænɪʃ /

verb

1. to expel from a place, esp by an official decree as a punishment
2. to drive away

   to banish gloom

Derived Forms

• ˈbanishment, noun

Other Words From

• ban·ish·er noun
• ban·ish·ment noun
• self-ban·ished adjective
• un·ban·ished adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of banish¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English banisshen, from Anglo-French, Old French baniss-, long stem of banir, from unrecorded Frankish bannjan “to proclaim,” akin to ban ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of banish¹

C14: from Old French banir , of Germanic origin; compare Old High German ban

Example Sentences

New Zealand, on the other hand, had the pain of 2022's home series defeat to banish on their first visit to Dublin in three years.

From BBC

For Ireland, Friday's match - regardless of the result - cannot banish the hurt that hit them like a hammer when, after 37 increasingly desperate phases, their World Cup was ended when Sam Whitelock won a penalty for the All Blacks.

From BBC

He immediately goes to her house in Westview and plans to banish her for crimes, something she initially laughs off but ultimately begins to fear.

From Salon

To call them weird, to banish them to the monstrous hinterlands, is to claw back the ability to define whether behavior is prosocial or antisocial, to determine what principles we should be conforming to.

From Slate

McIlroy was battling to banish two different demons on the Newcastle links he knows so well: the lingering pain of his US Open near-miss and the memories of his previous appearances competing on Northern Irish soil.

From BBC

Related Words

• dismiss
• dispel
• drive away
• eject
• eliminate
• eradicate
• evict
• exclude
• exile
• get rid of
• isolate
• ostracize
• oust
• outlaw
• relegate
• remove