TOP

Definition of retaliate verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

retaliate

verb
 
/rɪˈtælieɪt/
 
/rɪˈtælieɪt/
[intransitive]
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they retaliate
 
/rɪˈtælieɪt/
 
/rɪˈtælieɪt/
he / she / it retaliates
 
/rɪˈtælieɪts/
 
/rɪˈtælieɪts/
past simple retaliated
 
/rɪˈtælieɪtɪd/
 
/rɪˈtælieɪtɪd/
past participle retaliated
 
/rɪˈtælieɪtɪd/
 
/rɪˈtælieɪtɪd/
-ing form retaliating
 
/rɪˈtælieɪtɪŋ/
 
/rɪˈtælieɪtɪŋ/
jump to other results
  1. to do something harmful to somebody because they have harmed you first synonym revenge
    • retaliate (against somebody/something) to retaliate against an attack
    • retaliate (by doing something/with something) The boy hit his sister, who retaliated by kicking him.
    Extra Examples
    • The police were pelted with stones and retaliated with tear gas.
    • Ukraine threatened to retaliate by closing oil pipelines.
    • The demonstrators retaliated by throwing stones and bricks.
    • The police retaliated with tear gas.
    • They threatened to retaliate against the British.
    Word Originearly 17th cent.: from Latin retaliat- ‘returned in kind’, from the verb retaliare, from re- ‘back’ + talis ‘such’.
See retaliate in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
trait
noun
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 5000
B2
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day