The process by which sediment particles that have a certain characteristic, such as a given shape or grain size, are separated from other associated particles by an active agent of transportation, such as wind, a stream, or a glacier. A measure of the degree to which this process has occurred within a body of sediment.
punitive adjective. âº formal or specialized law âintended as a âpunishment: punitive âaction The UN has âimposed punitive âsanctions on the âinvading âcountry. She is âsuing the ânewspaper for $5 million punitive âdamages, âclaiming they âknew the âarticle about her was âuntrue.
Punitive damages are particularly prevalent in the USA where they are often left to the discretion of a group of citizens, a jury, who may impose them when they determine that a defendant's conduct has been uncivilized or to deter other from acting in such an underhanded way, to improve, generally, law and order, or simply to reward the plaintiff for his financial risks in litigating and enforcing the law.