How to Use retaliate in a Sentence

retaliate

verb
Definition of retaliatenext
Synonyms for retaliatenext
  • After the company announced plans to reduce benefits, the union threatened to retaliate by calling for a strike.
  • What is the risk that Russia will retaliate against the West, and if so to what degree?
    — Michael Peregrine, Forbes, 13 Mar. 2022
  • But with Owens’ help, both men chose not to retaliate and to rebuild their lives in peace.
    — al, 27 July 2022
  • Putin has vowed to retaliate against any and all involved.
    — Charles Maynes, NPR, 25 Mar. 2024
  • The United States might then retaliate with a nuclear strike of its own, bringing the world to the edge of destruction.
    — Peter Schroeder, Foreign Affairs, 20 Dec. 2023
  • Is Qatar likely to retaliate against the EU as relations take a dive?
    — Mostafa Salem, CNN, 21 Dec. 2022
  • Bryan Abreu got the Astros out of the inning without further incident and the Mariners didn't attempt to retaliate in the bottom of the ninth.
    — Matt Young, Chron, 7 June 2022
  • The naval anti-submarine drills marked the first joint exercise in six months, and North Korea promised to retaliate to the drills.
    — Peter Aitken, Fox News, 19 Apr. 2023
  • In some of the videos, staffers retaliate by launching ad hominem attacks at Gude or the other protesters.
    — Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 10 Jan. 2024
  • If one person tries to take $100 in the early rounds, the other is likely to retaliate, and both walk away with nothing in future rounds.
    — Robert Pearl, Forbes, 14 Oct. 2024
  • Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel and hold the country’s ally, the U.S., answerable.
    — Mallory Moench, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
  • Last week, Bush Hager detailed how her 10-year-old daughter Mila felt left out of plans with her mom and aunt — and used queso dip to retaliate.
    — Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 2 Jan. 2024
  • After getting slapped a few times by her husband, Jaya decides to take things in her own hands and trains in martial arts to retaliate.
    — Sweta Kaushal, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2022
  • Israel blamed Hezbollah for the attack and vowed to retaliate.
    — Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 28 July 2024
  • Trade wars do the greatest damage to a country that is targeted and does not retaliate.
    — Tom Campbell, Orange County Register, 26 Oct. 2024
  • The wave of attacks also comes after Moscow promised to retaliate for Kyiv’s strike on the Crimean Bridge earlier this week.
    — Mikhail Klimentov, Washington Post, 21 July 2023
  • The next day, the victim retaliated by throwing a container of milk to the back, dousing a seventh-grader.
    — Caralee Adams, Washington Post, 15 July 2023
  • Biden did not say exactly how the U.S. would retaliate.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 23 Mar. 2022
  • The decision by the US to supply advanced weapons to Ukraine has sparked concern that Russia may retaliate.
    — Alexandra Meeks, CNN, 2 June 2022
  • To retaliate, the queen’s friends put on drag of their own and conquered the Pines by boat, a spectacle that continues to this day and now draws thousands of visitors.
    — New York Times, 22 July 2022
  • China could retaliate against the U.S. and Taiwan in other ways.
    — Yvonne Lau, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2022
  • The United States had made the request anticipating that Iraq will retaliate against Turkey in the event of war.
    — CNN, 5 Apr. 2022
  • Trump has a long history of trying to use the courts to retaliate against unfavorable press.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 19 Mar. 2024
  • Iran has vowed to retaliate over the assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran in late July.
    — Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 16 Aug. 2024
  • Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, has blamed Israel for the attacks, and is widely expected to retaliate.
    — Ellen Ioanes, Vox, 6 Aug. 2024
  • Israel retaliated for the swarm of more than 300 drones and missiles with a limited strike on Iran last Friday.
    — USA TODAY, 23 Apr. 2024
  • The Sikhs are provoked to retaliate, with a plan to murder en masse Muslims leaving the village on a train traveling back to Pakistan.
    — Ajay Verghese, The Conversation, 12 Aug. 2022
  • Russia, which has denied killing civilians in Ukraine and claimed the images out of Bucha are fake, criticized the expulsions and vowed to retaliate.
    — Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2022
  • Rolling Stone is withholding the names of the women and the specifics of their relationships, as several sources voiced fear that Majors and his team would retaliate against the women.
    — Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 29 June 2023
  • If Wall Street goes after fossil fuels, their states will retaliate in kind.
    — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 1 Apr. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'retaliate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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