corporal punishment
Americannoun
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Law. physical punishment, as flogging, inflicted on the body of one convicted of a crime: formerly included the death penalty, sentencing to a term of years, etc.
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physical punishment, as spanking, inflicted on a child by an adult in authority.
noun
Etymology
Origin of corporal punishment
First recorded in 1575–85
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Banning corporal punishment also had been a primary demand of student and teacher activists who took part in widespread Latino student walkouts from L.A. schools in 1968.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025
Scotland was the first UK country to ban corporal punishment in November 2020, followed by Wales in March 2022.
From BBC • Mar. 5, 2025
Only three states fully ban corporal punishment at both public and private schools; 25 make it illegal in public schools, but allow private school teachers to use physical force as punishment for students.
From Slate • Sep. 12, 2023
As Human Rights Watch explained in a recent report, "US states overwhelmingly fail to live up to key standards" on "the issues of child marriage, corporal punishment, child labor, and juvenile justice."
From Salon • Sep. 8, 2023
Regardless, it fell out that Katherine and I were saved the corporal punishment and instead assigned house duty for two weeks.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
