Retaliate (Verb)
Meaning 1
Make a counterattack and return like for like, especially evil for evil; "The Empire strikes back"; "The Giants struck back and won the opener"; "The Israeli army retaliated for the Hamas bombing".
Classification
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities.
Examples
- The team decided to retaliate with a strong counterattack after their opponent's unfair moves.
- If you think you can bully me, I will retaliate and make sure you regret it.
- The government chose not to retaliate against the neighboring country's aggressive actions.
- The victim's family vowed to retaliate against her former abuser if he ever came near them again.
- In a shocking twist, the underdog company retaliated against their rival's smear campaign with an even more aggressive counterattack.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Related Words
Meaning 2
Take revenge for a perceived wrong; "He wants to avenge the murder of his brother".
Classification
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities.
Examples
- The government refused to retaliate against the group despite their recent terrorist attacks on the city.
- She decided not to retaliate against her coworker who had been sabotaging her projects for months.
- The family vowed to retaliate against the person who had vandalized their store.
- After years of bullying, the teenager finally decided to retaliate against her tormentor.
- The team's fans were eager to retaliate against their arch-rivals by winning the next match.