Idiom
penalty box
Meaning
A temporary punishment, or, metaphorically, a similar setback (e.g., loss of control, embarrassment, etc.).
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The player spent two minutes in the penalty box.”
“After his outburst at the meeting, the manager put him in the penalty box for a week.”
“Following the scandal, the politician found himself in the metaphorical penalty box, excluded from all major party decisions.”
Examples
simple
“The player spent two minutes in the penalty box.”
contextual
“After his outburst at the meeting, the manager put him in the penalty box for a week.”
complex
“Following the scandal, the politician found himself in the metaphorical penalty box, excluded from all major party decisions.”
Key words
Related idioms
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