Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense banishes, present participle banishing, past tense, past participle banished
1. verb
If someone or something is banishedfrom a place or area of activity, they are sent away from it and prevented from entering it.
John was banished from England. [beV-ed from/to n]
I was banished to the small bedroom upstairs. [beV-ed + from/to]
They tried to banish him from politics. [V n + from/to]
Synonyms: exclude, bar, ban, dismiss More Synonyms of banish
2. verb
If you banish something unpleasant, you get rid of it.
...a public investment programme intended to banish the recession. [VERB noun]
...diseases like malaria that have been banished for centuries. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: get rid of, remove, eliminate, eradicate More Synonyms of banish
3. verb
If you banish the thought of something, you stop thinking about it.
He has now banished all thoughts of retirement. [VERB noun]
The past few days had been banished from his mind. [beV-ed + from/to]
Synonyms: dismiss, drop, ban, reject More Synonyms of banish
More Synonyms of banish
banish in British English
(ˈbænɪʃ)
verb(transitive)
1.
to expel from a place, esp by an official decree as a punishment
2.
to drive away
to banish gloom
Derived forms
banishment (ˈbanishment)
noun
Word origin
C14: from Old French banir, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German ban
banish in American English
(ˈbænɪʃ)
verb transitive
1.
to exile
2.
to send or put away; get rid of
to banish cares, to banish wrinkles
SYNONYMY NOTE: banish implies removal from a country (not necessarily one's own) as a formal punishment;, exile implies compulsion to leave one's own country, either because of a formal decreeor through force of circumstance; , expatriate suggests more strongly voluntary exile and often implies the acquiring of citizenshipin another country; to , deport is to send (an alien) out of the country, because the alien either entered unlawfullyor is regarded as undesirable; to , transport is to banish (a convict) to a penal colony; , ostracize today implies forced exclusion from society, or a certain group, as because of disgrace[ostracized for scandalous behavior]
Derived forms
banishment (ˈbanishment)
noun
Word origin
ME banischen < extended stem of OFr banir < ML *bannire < Frank *bannjan, to order or prohibit under penalty < ban, akin to ban1
Examples of 'banish' in a sentence
banish
Has economic gloom banished concern for the environment from our thoughts?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Those around him must now make sure that such thoughts are banished from his mind.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
They recommend focusing on your breathing and banishing negative thoughts as you inhale.
The Sun (2015)
Their job was to banish such thoughts from their heads.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
His display also banished thoughts of a poor first half.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
And make a real effort to banish these thoughts of your girlfriend.
The Sun (2008)
Such doubts have been banished now.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
He tried to banish the thought.
Iain Gale Man of Honour (2007)
And they will want to win to banish match-fixing gloom.
The Sun (2012)
I shuddered and banished such thoughts to the back of my mind.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
And he still has the same youthful enthusiasm to succeed, banishing all thoughts of hanging up his boots.
The Sun (2015)
People can be taught to banish the unhelpful thoughts that lead to negative feelings and behaviour and to embrace positive, helpful thoughts.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
It took only a quiet Sunday surveying his Ditcheat domain to banish the gloom.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Second, when it comes to money, banish all thoughts about how nice you think a company is.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
In town she returned to preoccupations which, for the moment, had the happy effect of banishing troublesome thoughts.
Edith Wharton The House of Mirth (1905)
The Frenchman may well claim he is able to banish thoughts like these from his mind - but somehow you doubt it.
The Sun (2006)
But he has banished any international thoughts and is focused on keeping MK Dons up.
The Sun (2015)
Any fear of this latter evil was banished now that her mamma was to have an establishment; for on the point of birth Gwendolen was quite easy.
George Eliot Daniel Deronda (1876)
In other languages
banish
British English: banish VERB
If someone or something is banished from a place or area of activity, they are sent away from it and prevented from entering it.
He was banished from his homeland.
American English: banish
Brazilian Portuguese: banir
Chinese: 驱逐
European Spanish: desterrar
French: bannir
German: verbannen
Italian: bandire
Japanese: 追放する
Korean: 추방당하다
European Portuguese: banir
Latin American Spanish: desterrar
Chinese translation of 'banish'
banish
(ˈbænɪʃ)
vt
(= exile) 放逐 (fàngzhú)
1 (verb)
I was banished from the small bedroom upstairs.
Synonyms
exclude
bar
They have been barred from playing in several countries.
ban
Last year arms sales were banned.
dismiss
the power to dismiss civil servants who refuse to work
expel
secondary school students expelled for cheating in exams
throw out
oust
The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.
drive away
eject
They were forcibly ejected from the restaurant.
evict
They were evicted from their apartment.
shut out
ostracize
She is being ostracized by members of her local community.
2 (verb)
Definition
to send into exile
He was banished from England.
Synonyms
expel
An American academic was expelled from the country yesterday.
transport
He was transported to Italy and interned.
exile
Dante was exiled from Florence in 1302 because of his political activities.
outlaw
He should be outlawed for his crimes against the state.
deport
Six team members were deported for having the wrong visas.
drive away
expatriate
excommunicate
In 1656 Spinoza was excommunicated because of his religious views.
Opposites
receive
,
accept
,
admit
,
welcome
, invite,
embrace
,
hail
,
offer hospitality to
3 (verb)
Definition
to drive away
a public investment programme intended to banish the recession
Synonyms
get rid of
remove
The senate voted to remove him.
eliminate
The Act has not eliminated discrimination in employment.
eradicate
battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus
shake off
dislodge
Use a hoof pick to dislodge stones and dirt from your horse's feet.
see the back of
4 (verb)
He has now banished all thoughts of retirement.
Synonyms
dismiss
I dismissed the thought from my mind.
drop
The captain was dropped from the team.
ban
reject
shelve
Sadly, the project has now been shelved.
discard
Read the instructions before discarding the box.
set aside
disregard
dispel
He will hope to dispel their fears.
cast out
lay aside
put out of your mind
Additional synonyms
in the sense of ban
Definition
to prohibit or forbid officially
Last year arms sales were banned.
Synonyms
prohibit,
black,
bar,
block,
restrict,
veto,
forbid,
boycott,
suppress,
outlaw,
banish,
disallow,
proscribe,
debar,
blackball,
interdict,
criminalize
in the sense of bar
Definition
to exclude
They have been barred from playing in several countries.
Synonyms
exclude,
ban,
forbid,
prohibit,
keep out of,
disallow,
shut out of,
ostracize,
debar,
blackball,
interdict,
black
in the sense of deport
Definition
to remove forcibly from a country
Six team members were deported for having the wrong visas.