revenge

[ri-venj] /rɪˈvɛndʒ/
verb (used with object), revenged, revenging.
1.
to exact punishment or expiation for a wrong on behalf of, especially in a resentful or vindictive spirit:
He revenged his murdered brother.
2.
to take vengeance for; inflict punishment for; avenge:
He revenged his brother's murder.
verb (used without object), revenged, revenging.
3.
to take revenge.
noun
4.
the act of revenging; retaliation for injuries or wrongs; vengeance.
5.
something done in vengeance.
6.
the desire to revenge; vindictiveness.
7.
an opportunity to retaliate or gain satisfaction.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English revengen (v.) < Middle French, Old French revenger, equivalent to re- re- + venger to avenge < Latin vindicāre; see vindicate
Related forms
revengeless, adjective
revenger, noun
revengingly, adverb
nonrevenge, noun
nonrevenger, noun
prerevenge, noun, verb (used with object), prerevenged, prerevenging.
unrevenged, adjective
unrevenging, adjective
Synonyms
1. See avenge. 4. requital. Revenge, reprisal, retribution, vengeance suggest a punishment, or injury inflicted in return for one received. Revenge is the carrying out of a bitter desire to injure another for a wrong done to oneself or to those who are felt to be like oneself: to plot revenge. Reprisal, formerly any act of retaliation, is used specifically in warfare for retaliation upon the enemy for its (usually unlawful) actions: to make a raid in reprisal for one by the enemy. Retribution suggests just or deserved punishment, often without personal motives, for some evil done: a just retribution for wickedness. Vengeance is usually wrathful, vindictive, furious revenge: implacable vengeance.
Examples from the web for revenge
  • It has a reputation for clannishness and a strict code of honor, which requires that revenge be exacted for a wrong.
  • Lisa did not speak to me for the rest of the day, and later in the week she got revenge by flinging peas in my hair and face.
  • She left and hanged herself in one of the huts, not out of sorrow but to revenge herself by haunting her disloyal lover.
  • And when he became well known and famous, it was time for revenge, served cold.
  • It's an emotional revenge-oriented tantrum that shares certain characteristics with violent criminal behavior itself.
  • They could not fight the owners openly, they had to resort to indirect means to get revenge.
  • To get revenge, they attacked the games' new organizers in the middle of a wrestling match.
  • His revenge, he supposed, but he hadn't meant it that way.
  • But these barbs expose him to the charge that he is a sore loser, bent mainly on revenge.
  • The violence is part of a deadly cycle of cattle raids and revenge attacks between some of the country's ethnic groups.
British Dictionary definitions for revenge

revenge

/rɪˈvɛndʒ/
noun
1.
the act of retaliating for wrongs or injury received; vengeance
2.
something done as a means of vengeance
3.
the desire to take vengeance or retaliate
4.
a return match, regarded as a loser's opportunity to even the score
verb (transitive)
5.
to inflict equivalent injury or damage for (injury received); retaliate in return for
6.
to take vengeance for (oneself or another); avenge
Derived Forms
revengeless, adjective
revenger, noun
revenging, adjective
revengingly, adverb
Word Origin
C14: from Old French revenger, from Late Latin revindicāre, from re- + vindicāre to vindicate
Word Origin and History for revenge
v.

late 14c., from Old French revengier, variant of revenchier "take revenge, avenge" (13c., Modern French revancher), from re-, intensive prefix (see re-), + vengier "take revenge," from Latin vindicare "to lay claim to, avenge, punish" (see vindicate).

To avenge is "to get revenge" or "to take vengeance"; it suggests the administration of just punishment for a criminal or immoral act. Revenge seems to stress the idea of retaliation a bit more strongly and implies real hatred as its motivation. ["The Columbia Guide to Standard American English," 1993]

n.

1540s, from Middle French revenge, back-formation from revengier (see revenge (v.)).