sanction
part of speech
noun (a sanction, sanctions; uncountable sanction); verb (sanction, sanctions, sanctioned, sanctioning)
meaning for a pupil
1) (formal) Sanction is official permission or approval. tree →
2) A sanction is a punishment for breaking a rule. tree →
3) Sanctions are actions by countries to punish another country, like stopping trade. tree →
4) To sanction something is to allow it officially, or (also) to punish it. tree →
sense in the lessons
A formal word in school rules («sanctions for bad behaviour»), news and exams. In UK schools, «rewards and sanctions» are the school's praise and punishments. Phrases: «rewards and sanctions», «impose sanctions», «without sanction».
examples
- The school has rewards and sanctions. tree →
- Missing homework three times leads to a sanction. tree →
- The trip was sanctioned by the head teacher. tree →
- The country faced sanctions from its neighbours. tree →
- You cannot change the rules without the sanction of the committee. tree →
- The team was sanctioned for cheating. tree →
note
A tricky word: it can mean both «permission» and «punishment» — read the sentence to see which. Formal; everyday words: «allow» or «punishment».
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sanction» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.