retaliate
/ɹɪˈtæl.i.eɪt/ verb
Forms retaliates retaliating retaliated
- verb (intransitive) To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront. “John insulted Peter to retaliate for Peter's acid remark earlier.”
- verb (transitive) To repay or requite by an act of the same kind.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin retāliātus, past participle of retāliō (“to requite, retaliate”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb 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.]
- verb To return like for like; specifically, to return evil for evil; as, to retaliate upon an enemy.
Etymology [L. retaliatus, p. p. of retaliare to retaliate; pref. re- re- + a word akin to talio talion, retaliation. Cf. Talion.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “retaliate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details