From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpenalizepe‧nal‧ize (also penalise British English) /ˈpiːnəl-aɪz $ ˈpiː-, ˈpe-/ verb [transitive] 1 UNFAIRto punish someone or treat them unfairlypenalize somebody for (doing) something Two students were penalized very differently for the same offence. Women feel professionally penalized for taking time off to raise children.2 PUNISHto punish a team or player in sports by giving an advantage to the other team The team was penalized for wasting time.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
penalize• How would it be monitored and regulated to ensure that those who cheated were penalized?• It is unfair that the whole class should be penalized because of the bad behaviour of a few students.• New laws will penalize firms that continue to pollute the environment.• It would penalize foreign companies for energy investments in those two nations -- even if legal under their own laws.• The Government will decide over the next few weeks whether to penalize Gloucestershire for overspending.• The House of Representatives voted to penalize him for ethics violations.• Why should I be penalized just because everyone else did a bad job?• The proposed energy taxes would unfairly penalize people living in rural areas.• Some religious conservatives have opposed the act, saying it unfairly penalizes people to overprotect lesser forms of life.• The overall aim is to ensure that the welfare state encourages rather than penalizes personal initiative.• Legislation is pending in Sacramento and Washington that would penalize prisoners who file lawsuits that are later judged to be frivolous.• Darwinians have usually chosen to discuss genes whose phenotypic effects benefit, or penalize, the survival and reproduction of whole bodies.• Wallace was penalized twice for false starts.penalize somebody for (doing) something• The state government was willing to bend the rules where necessary to stop penalizing employers for creating jobs.• It would penalize foreign companies for energy investments in those two nations -- even if legal under their own laws.• They will not penalize their employees for leaving to take a child to the doctor.• The Government will decide over the next few weeks whether to penalize Gloucestershire for overspending.• I thought you could be penalized only for the actual time you were late. 