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
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
Gardiner was retaliating against anyone.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 18 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
The lawsuit accuses task force agents of systematically retaliating against the four plaintiffs and other members of the public engaged in similar observations.
—Travis Loller, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
Those kind of plays have the Wild coaches praising Hartman for his maturity, in not taking the bait and retaliating with an act that might mean another lengthy suspension.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 9 May 2026
Iran seems to be retaliating by firing upon and potentially seizing more commercial ships.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 22 Apr. 2026
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
Gardiner was retaliating against anyone.
—Adam Harrington, CBS News, 18 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
The lawsuit accuses task force agents of systematically retaliating against the four plaintiffs and other members of the public engaged in similar observations.
—Travis Loller, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2026
Those kind of plays have the Wild coaches praising Hartman for his maturity, in not taking the bait and retaliating with an act that might mean another lengthy suspension.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 9 May 2026
Iran seems to be retaliating by firing upon and potentially seizing more commercial ships.
—Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 22 Apr. 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 5 Jun. 2026.
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