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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Vengeance \Venge"ance\, noun [F. vengeance, fr. venger to avenge, L. vindicare to lay claim to, defend, avenge, fr. vindex a claimant, defender, avenger, the first part of which is of uncertain origin, and the last part akin to dicere to say. See {Diction}, and cf. {Avenge}, {Revenge}, {Vindicate}.]
1. Punishment inflicted in return for an injury or an offense; retribution; -- often, in a bad sense, passionate or unrestrained revenge.
To me belongeth vengeance and recompense. --Deut. xxxii. 35.
To execute fierce vengeance on his foes. --Milton.
2. Harm; mischief. [Obs.] --Shak.
{What a vengeance}, or {What the vengeance}, what! -- emphatically. [Obs.] ''But what a vengeance makes thee fly!'' --Hudibras. ''What the vengeance! Could he not speak 'em fair?'' --Shak.
{With a vengeance}, with great violence; as, to strike with a vengeance. [Colloq.]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
vengeance
noun: the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation for something harmful that they have done) especially in the next life; "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord"--Romans 12:19; "For vengeance I would do nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere revenge"--James Garfield; "he swore vengeance on the man who betrayed him"; "the swiftness of divine retribution" [syn: {retribution}, {payback}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
30 Moby Thesaurus words for "vengeance": avengement, avenging, blood feud, counterblow, energetically, enthusiastically, ferociously, feud, fiercely, forcefully, furiously, getting even, repayment, reprisal, requital, retaliation, retribution, return, revanche, revanchism, revenge, revengefulness, sweet revenge, vehemently, vendetta, vengefulness, violently, wholeheartedly, wildly, with a vengeance
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |