avenge

verb

avenged; avenging

transitive verb

1
: to take vengeance for or on behalf of
vowed to avenge their murdered father
2
: to exact satisfaction for (a wrong) by punishing the wrongdoer
was determined to avenge the assault
avenger noun

Examples of avenge in a Sentence

The brothers vowed to avenge the death of their father. They vowed to avenge their father by capturing and punishing his killer.
Recent Examples on the Web After starting the 2023-24 season with a loss to local rival Point Loma Nazarene, the Cougars will carry their season further into the Division II playoffs with a decisive victory that did more than avenge that season-opening loss. U-T Staff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Mar. 2024 Bill Skarsgård is back from the dead to avenge his true love's murder in new first-look photos of Rupert Sanders' The Crow, based on James O'Barr's graphic novel. EW.com, 28 Feb. 2024 Jones’ red-hot shooting started UCLA’s final push toward the postseason with a dominant victory that avenged an overtime loss to the Utes in Salt Lake City last month. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2024 San Ramon Valley avenged its two regular-season league losses in the East Bay Athletic League tournament, winning impressively on the road over Granada on Thursday in the semifinals and De La Salle on Saturday in the final. Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2024 With the victory, Edison (15-6-2, 5-1) avenged its 4-3 loss to the Sea Kings (12-7-2, 4-1-1) in the teams’ first meeting on Jan. 16. Lou Ponsi, Orange County Register, 1 Feb. 2024 Gilbert Mesquite, 20-3 Mesquite avenged the biggest blemish on its resume Thursday night. The Arizona Republic, 29 Jan. 2024 Paul George added 17 points for Los Angeles, which used a 21-0 run in the third quarter to win its fifth straight and avenge a 37-point home loss to Boston in December. Kyle Hightower, USA TODAY, 28 Jan. 2024 The Trojans avenged their rivalry loss from January on Saturday, blitzing UCLA with 10 consecutive points to start the second half for a 62-56 victory at Pauley Pavilion. Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'avenge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French avenger, from a- (from Latin ad-) + venger to avenge — more at vengeance

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of avenge was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near avenge

Cite this Entry

“Avenge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avenge. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

avenge

verb
avenged; avenging
: to take vengeance for (an action) or on behalf of (a person)
avenger noun

More from Merriam-Webster on avenge

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