Definition of "chasten" []

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

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This is a classic example of deliberate capital flight and capital destruction, a tactic used by monopolistic finance capital frequently to "chasten" any government that appears to be intruding into the sacred practices of "free market" capitalism."
• "For all her whining that it's actually her that has been wronged, for all Fox News' post-speech takeaway that the president's speech absolved them from any culpability in the dangerous turn in public political discourse, I can't help but hope that the deaths in Tucson will chasten them, just a little."
• "There's more but that should be enough to duly chasten those of us treating the Scottish bard with unwarranted southern Californian familiarity."