as in to avenge
to punish in kind the wrongdoer responsible for
retaliated his neighbor's malicious destruction of his flower garden by cutting down the man's prize apple tree
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Recent Examples of retaliate
Iran retaliated by sending hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones toward Haifa, Tel Aviv, and military installations in the heart of Israel.
—
Carter Malkasian, Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2025
In its investigation announcement, the USTR expressed concerns that Brazilian authorities could undermine the competitiveness of American digital companies by retaliating against them for failing to censor political speech or restricting their ability to operate in the country.
—John Liu, CNN Money, 16 July 2025
The investment bank suggested that if the U.S. goes ahead with a 30% tariff and the European Union retaliates, the ECB could be forced to cut rates to 1% by the first quarter of 2026.
—Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 14 July 2025
But Russian leaders have continued to launch missile and drone strikes on Ukraine, which retaliates in kind on strategic targets.
—Mark Temnycky, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for retaliate
Carter Malkasian, Foreign Affairs, 17 July 2025
In its investigation announcement, the USTR expressed concerns that Brazilian authorities could undermine the competitiveness of American digital companies by retaliating against them for failing to censor political speech or restricting their ability to operate in the country.
—John Liu, CNN Money, 16 July 2025
The investment bank suggested that if the U.S. goes ahead with a 30% tariff and the European Union retaliates, the ECB could be forced to cut rates to 1% by the first quarter of 2026.
—Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 14 July 2025
But Russian leaders have continued to launch missile and drone strikes on Ukraine, which retaliates in kind on strategic targets.
—Mark Temnycky, Forbes.com, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for retaliate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retaliate
avenge
Verb
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Her win over Tauson avenged a second-round loss at Wimbledon merely a few weeks ago.—
Jacob Steinberg,
Baltimore Sun,
26 July 2025
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Now, as the top contender, his story is focused on avenging his controversial WrestleMania loss.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Retaliate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retaliate. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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