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Definition of "retaliate" []

  • To return like for like, especially evil for evil. (verb-intransitive)
  • To pay back (an injury) in kind. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "retaliate" in a sentence
  • "However, attempting to retaliate is either futile or dangerous ethically due to c."
  • "Dorian Warren " Boeing is Wrong, the NLRB Is Right ," Letters, May 11 use a definition of "retaliate" that my dictionary doesn't have."
  • "If one person defects, harming the environment and thus the interests of others, then a common way for fellow players to retaliate is to defect as well."