as in avenging
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 retaliating
Immigration attorneys and advocates are accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of retaliating against detainees taking part in hunger strikes over inhumane conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
—
Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Israel launched airstrikes on Beirut over the weekend, which led to Iran retaliating with its own strike on Israel.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 10 June 2026
Nicolas Matthew Scelfo of Brooklyn, New York, faces up to 10 years in prison after being charged with influencing, impeding, and retaliating against a federal officer by threat.
—Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 10 June 2026
The most recent controversy came in January, when the county paid $135,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused Kramer of improperly slashing a property’s value by millions of dollars — then retaliating against the employee who raised alarms about it.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 9 June 2026
Anthropic sued, claiming the Pentagon is illegally retaliating by stigmatizing the company with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries.
—ABC News, 31 May 2026
Boston’s assessing commissioner Nicholas Ariniello is bailing amid a lawsuit that claims the city is retaliating against commercial property owners that file abatements, as the mayor continues to shake up her administration.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 26 May 2026
The Dolphins are also accused of retaliating against Flores.
—Miami Herald, 22 May 2026
Days before it was scheduled to begin, the jury trial of a North Texas sheriff accused of abusing his office and retaliating against witnesses was rescheduled, according to court records.
—Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 May 2026
Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Israel launched airstrikes on Beirut over the weekend, which led to Iran retaliating with its own strike on Israel.
—Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 10 June 2026
Nicolas Matthew Scelfo of Brooklyn, New York, faces up to 10 years in prison after being charged with influencing, impeding, and retaliating against a federal officer by threat.
—Anna Giaritelli, The Washington Examiner, 10 June 2026
The most recent controversy came in January, when the county paid $135,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused Kramer of improperly slashing a property’s value by millions of dollars — then retaliating against the employee who raised alarms about it.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 9 June 2026
Anthropic sued, claiming the Pentagon is illegally retaliating by stigmatizing the company with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries.
—ABC News, 31 May 2026
Boston’s assessing commissioner Nicholas Ariniello is bailing amid a lawsuit that claims the city is retaliating against commercial property owners that file abatements, as the mayor continues to shake up her administration.
—Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald, 26 May 2026
The Dolphins are also accused of retaliating against Flores.
—Miami Herald, 22 May 2026
Days before it was scheduled to begin, the jury trial of a North Texas sheriff accused of abusing his office and retaliating against witnesses was rescheduled, according to court records.
—Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for retaliating
avenging
Verb
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Mir is focused on fulfilling his dad’s dreams of investing DarCo money in golf courses and country clubs, while Raj is focused on avenging their father’s death at the hands of his former lieutenant, Ahmad (Brian George).—
Joe Otterson,
Variety,
28 May 2026
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And following the game, Chisholm noted that he and some of his Yankees teammates are focused on avenging their playoff loss to the Blue Jays from last season.—
Peter Chawaga,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Retaliating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/retaliating. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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