chasten

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“
And he was content to wait out the days in which he must school, chasten, and prove himself You have built me up," he confided to Brigham, one day.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. transitive verb To correct by punishment or reproof; take to task.
  2. transitive verb To restrain; subdue: chasten a proud spirit.
  3. transitive verb To rid of excess; refine or purify: chasten a careless writing style.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • We think too often of our bereavements, for example, as if God took away the friend, ending his life, just to chasten or punish us. —  Making the Most of Life
  • The rod to chasten, the staff to support! —  The Annual Monitor for 1851 or, Obituary of the members of the Society of Friends in Great Britain and Ireland, for the year 1850
  • The rebellious bitterness of her soul melted away, and a fervent gratitude to Heaven fell like dew upon her arid stony heart, waking words of penitence and praise to which her lips had long been strangers Adversity in the guise of human injustice and wrong generally indurates and embitters; and the chastisements that chasten are those which come directly from the hand of Him "who doeth all things well When Mrs. Waul came back Mrs. Orme was still kneeling, with her face hidden in her arms, and the letters lying beside her. —  Infelice
  • As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent 20. —  Notes on the Apocalypse
  • As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. —  Satan
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same contextWord Family

chasten:   chastened
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Alteration of obsolete chaste, from Middle English chasten, chastien, from Old French chastiier, from Latin castigāre; see castigate.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from chaste, adjective, + -en. See chaste, v., and chastise.
 

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/ˈtʃeɪsn/
by American Heritage

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