Definitions of retaliate [ɪˈtæl iˌeɪt]

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Definition of 'retaliate'

Random House Webster's College Dictionary

1. (v.i.) retaliate
to return like for like, esp. evil for evil:
to retaliate for an injury.

2. (v.t.) retaliate
to requite or make return for (a wrong or injury) with the like.

Etymology: (1605–15; < L retāliātus, ptp. of retāliāre=re-re - +-tāliāre, v. der. of tāliō compensation in kind; see -ate¹)

Definition of 'retaliate'

Princeton's WordNet

1. (verb) revenge, avenge, retaliate
take revenge for a perceived wrong
"He wants to avenge the murder of his brother"

2. (verb) retaliate, strike back
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"

Definition of 'retaliate'

Kernerman English Learner’s Dictionary

1. (verb) retaliate
to attack sb who has attacked you
The rebels attacked several villages and the military retaliated.; Retaliation is not the answer.

Definition of 'retaliate'

Webster Dictionary

1. (verb) retaliate
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.]

2. (verb) retaliate
to return like for like; specifically, to return evil for evil; as, to retaliate upon an enemy

Translation of 'retaliate'

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

Sense: to do something unpleasant to a person in return for something unpleasant he has done to one If you insult him, he will retaliate.
Afrikaans: vergeld, terugkry	Arabic: يَرُد بالمِثِل، يَنْتَقِم	Bulgarian: отвръщам
Brazilian: revidar / retaliar	Czech: oplatit	German: Vergeltungüben
Danish: gøre gengæld	Greek: ανταποδίδω, εκδικούμαι	Spanish: desquitarse, tomar repres
Estonian: kätte maksma	Farsi: تلافی کردن	Finnish: kostaa
French: rendre la pareille (à qqn	Hebrew: לִגמוֹל	Hindi: जैसे को तैसा देना
Croatian: uzvratiti, vratiti milo z	Hungarian: megtorol	Indonesian: membalas
Icelandic: svaraí sömu mynt	Italian: restituire, (rendere la p	Japanese: 仕返しする
Korean: 보복하다	Lithuanian: atsakyti tuo pačiu, at(si	Latvian: atdarīt; atriebt[]
Malay: membalas dendam	Dutch: wraak nemen	Norwegian: gjengjelde
Polish: odpłacić się tym samym, w	Persian: تلافی کردن	Pashto: بدله ا خيستل، قصور اخيستل
Portuguese: revidar	Romanian: a plăti cu aceeaşi monedă	Russian: отплачивать тем же
Slovak: vrátiť, odplatiť	Slovenian: vrniti milo za drago, uda	Serbian: osvetiti se
Swedish: hämnas, ge igen	Thai: ตอบโต้	Turkish: misilleme yapmak
Taiwanese: 報復	Ukrainian: відплачувати; мститися	Urdu: جوابی کاررواءی کرنا
Vietnamese: trả đũa	Chinese: 报复
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