banish

Meanings

1. 1verbtransitiveformal

   To order someone to leave a country or place, often as an official punishment.

   Grammar: Takes an object and often from/to: banish a minister from the court.

   Patterns

   • banish someone from somewhere
   • banish someone to somewhere
   • be banished for something

   The king threatened to banish anyone who questioned the decree.

   After the trial, he was banished to a remote island.

2. 2verbtransitivefigurative

   To force a feeling, thought, problem, or image out of your mind or out of sight.

   Grammar: Object is usually an idea or feeling: banish doubt; common phrase banish something from your mind.

   Patterns

   • banish fear
   • banish thoughts from your mind
   • banish something for good

   She tried to banish the memory from her mind.

   Good lighting can banish shadows from a small room.

Word forms

Common combinations

banish from the kingdom

Legends say the sorcerer was banished from the kingdom.

banish fear

Deep breaths helped him banish fear before the interview.

banish from memory

She wished she could banish the remark from memory.

Synonyms and how they differ

exile

Means forced removal from one's country, often long-term; banish can be official or literary.

expel

Forces someone out of a place, school, or group, not always a whole country.

dismiss

Can mean stop thinking of something, but often means send away from a job or reject an idea.

eliminate

Removes completely, but lacks the official exile sense for people.

Opposites

Word family

banishment noun

The state or punishment of being banished.

banished adjective

Forced to leave or excluded from a place.

Commonly confused: banish or vanish?

Practice

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