strike back
phrasal verb
struck back; struck back also stricken back; striking back; strikes back
: to try to hurt someone who has hurt one or treated one badly
When he called her lazy, she immediately struck back by calling him fat.
—often + atHe angrily struck back at his critics.
Examples of strike back in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But Indiana struck back in Game 4.
—
Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
Bukele struck back with a policy of mano dura — an iron fist.
—T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, 30 Sep. 2025
His brother Metrodorus struck back with a fiery polemic, Against Timocrates.
—Shai Tubali, Big Think, 30 Sep. 2025
Does Russia believe that Europe is going to strike back together with [the] United States?
—Caitlin McFall, FOXNews.com, 21 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for strike back
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Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Oct. 2025
Bukele struck back with a policy of mano dura — an iron fist.
—T. Christian Miller, ProPublica, 30 Sep. 2025
His brother Metrodorus struck back with a fiery polemic, Against Timocrates.
—Shai Tubali, Big Think, 30 Sep. 2025
Does Russia believe that Europe is going to strike back together with [the] United States?
—Caitlin McFall, FOXNews.com, 21 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for strike back
Cite this Entry
“Strike back.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strike%20back. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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