About The Word Retaliate

Bay Area Crosswords

Learn about the word Retaliate to help solve your crossword puzzle. Discover Retaliate definitions and meaning, origins, synonyms, related terms and more at the free Crossword Dictionary.

Retaliate

Retaliate Meaning & Definition
Retaliate Definition And Meaning

What's The Definition Of Retaliate?

[v] make a counterattack and return like for like, esp. evil for evil; "The Empire strikes back"; "The Giants struck back and won the opener"; "The Israeli army retaliated for the Hamas bombing"
[v] take revenge for a perceived wrong; "He wants to avenge the murder of his brother"

Synonyms | Synonyms for Retaliate: avenge | revenge | strike back

Related Terms | Find terms related to Retaliate:

See Also | get back | get even | hit | penalise | penalize | punish | strike

Retaliate In Webster's Dictionary

\Re*tal"i*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Retaliated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Retaliating}.] [L. retaliatus, p. p. of retaliare to retaliate; pref. re- re- + a word akin to talio talion, retaliation. Cf. {Talion}.] To return the like for; to repay or requite by an act of the same kind; to return evil for (evil). [Now seldom used except in a bad sense.] One ambassador sent word to the duke's son that his visit should be retaliated. --Sir T. Herbert. It is unlucky to be obliged to retaliate the injuries of authors, whose works are so soon forgotten that we are in danger of appearing the first aggressors. --Swift.
\Re*tal"i*ate\, v. i. To return like for like; specifically, to return evil for evil; as, to retaliate upon an enemy.

More Crossword Puzzle Words

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Cross Word Of The Day