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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
chasten
verb
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Military leaders, chastened by Vietnam, have learned to be cautious.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Even Commissioner Shack seemed chastened by the loss.
▪ His expression seems dour, chastened around the edges.
▪ Most of them turn up chastened the following morning.
▪ The experience had clearly chastened Mr Wormwood and he seemed temporarily to have lost his taste for boasting and bullying.
▪ They were not to be chastened by homilies like children at a Sunday school.
▪ Too late to admit us, he stood, chastened, and confessed he'd been knocked out.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Chasten

Chasten \Chas"ten\ (ch[=a]"s'n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Chastened (-s'nd); p. pr. & vb. n. Chastening.] [OE. chastien, OF. Chastier, F. Ch?tier, fr. L. castigare to punish, chastise; castus pure + agere to lead, drive. See Chaste, Act, and cf. Castigate, Chastise.]

  1. To correct by punishment; to inflict pain upon the purpose of reclaiming; to discipline; as, to chasten a son with a rod.

    For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.
    --Heb. xii. 6.

  2. To purify from errors or faults; to refine.

    They [classics] chasten and enlarge the mind, and excite to noble actions.
    --Layard.

    Syn: To chastise; punish; correct; discipline; castigate; afflict; subdue; purify.

    Usage: To Chasten, Punish, Chastise. To chasten is to subject to affliction or trouble, in order to produce a general change for the better in life or character. To punish is to inflict penalty for violation of law, disobedience to authority, or intentional wrongdoing. To chastise is to punish a particular offense, as with stripes, especially with the hope that suffering or disgrace may prevent a repetition of faults.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
chasten

1520s, with -en (1) + the word it replaced, obsolete verb chaste "to correct (someone's) behavior" (Middle English chastien, c.1200), from Old French chastiier "to punish" (see chastise). Related: Chastened; chastening.

Wiktionary
chasten

vb. 1 To punish (in order to bring about improvement in behavior, attitude, etc.); to restrain, moderate 2 To make chaste; to purify. 3 To punish or reprimand for the sake of improvement; to discipline. 4 To render humble or restrained.

WordNet
chasten
  1. v. censure severely; "She chastised him for his insensitive remarks" [syn: chastise, castigate, objurgate, correct]

  2. restrain or temper [syn: moderate, temper]

  3. correct by punishment or discipline [syn: tame, subdue]

Usage examples of "chasten".

Show me how to get back to it 1 But the moment passed as quickly as the end to the scene, and she chastened herself for failing back into self-pity- Instead, she returned her attention to the stage and decided to enjoy every mispronounced line.

The woman who owned the tavern pushed the barboy toward them, chastening him to make sure their tankards were kept filled.

There was a chastened correctness in the ordinary manner of Denbigh which wore the appearance of the influence of his reason, and a subjection of the passions, that, if anything, gave him less interest with Emily than had it been marked by an evidence of stronger feeling.

The dog-handler was still in the kitchen, restive but chastened, with his dog, a black Dobermann, lying on the floor and yawning at his feet.

Not one day after I received your chastening note, your esteemed colleague Lucius Aurelius Orestes, the junior consul, died suddenly.

The holy habit of perpetual prayer, The gentle greetings, the rare temperate speech, The chastening discipline, the atmosphere Of settled and profound tranquillity, Were even as living waters unto one Who perisheth of thirst.

He asked a lugubrious individual in a chastened sort of uniform if Sir John Phillips was in the hospital.

Next morning I might have been inclined to dwell despondently on my chastening experience but I had a prebreakfast call to a cow with a prolapsed uterus and there is nothing like an hour of feverish activity to rid the mind of brooding.

Sharing the sober, reflective moment, Celia thought: Amid an enormous therapeutic and financial success, it was necessary and 412 chastening to be reminded that grim failures were also part of pharmaceutical history.

But of freedom under a stern military education: of freedom chastened by discipline, and organized by law.

The man looked so chastened, Casey felt she had to come to his rescue.

Much chastened, she turned t' the stage and became a character actress, appearing in the first successful summer music circus in Lambertsville, New Jersey.

By the time Rojer reached his destination, she was thoroughly chastened but determined to endure.

Greene looked disgusted as he fell in behind the chastened ensign, who flushed as he realized how badly he had erred.

Much chastened, she turned t' the stage and became a character actress, appearing in the first successful summer music circus in Lambertsville, New Jersey.