From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Reprisal \Re*pris"al\ (r?-priz"al), noun [F. repr?saille, It. ripresaglia, rappresaglia, LL. reprensaliae, fr. L. reprehendere, reprehensum. See {Reprehend}, {Reprise}.]
1. The act of taking from an enemy by way of reteliation or indemnity.
Debatable ground, on which incursions and reprisals continued to take place. --Macaulay.
2. Anything taken from an enemy in retaliation.
3. The act of retorting on an enemy by inflicting suffering or death on a prisoner taken from him, in retaliation for an act of inhumanity. --Vattel (Trans.)
4. Any act of retaliation. --Waterland.
{Letters of marque and reprisal}. See under {Marque}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
33 Moby Thesaurus words for "reprisal": amends, avengement, avenging, blood feud, comeuppance, compensation, counterblow, desert, deserts, feud, getting even, indemnification, indemnity, just deserts, punishment, quittance, recompense, redress, repayment, requital, restitution, retaliation, retribution, revanche, revanchism, revenge, reward, sweet revenge, vendetta, vengeance, vindication, what is due, what is merited
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