retaliate
verb
[ rɪˈtalɪeɪt ]
• make an attack in return for a similar attack.
• "the blow stung and she retaliated immediately"
Similar:
fight back,
strike back,
hit back,
respond,
react,
reply,
reciprocate,
counterattack,
return fire,
return the compliment,
put up a fight,
take the bait,
rise to the bait,
return like for like,
get back at someone,
get,
give tit for tat,
give as good as one gets,
let someone see how it feels,
have/get/take one's revenge,
take/exact/wreak revenge,
be revenged,
revenge oneself,
avenge oneself,
take reprisals,
get even,
even the score,
settle a/the score,
settle accounts,
pay someone out,
repay someone,
exact retribution,
give someone their comeuppance,
get one's own back,
Opposite:
turn the other cheek,
Origin:
early 17th century: from Latin retaliat- ‘returned in kind’, from the verb retaliare, from re- ‘back’ + talis ‘such’.
