Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To inflict a punishment or penalty in return for; revenge: avenge a murder.
- v. To take vengeance on behalf of: avenged their wronged parents.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on the wrong-doer; execute justice or vengeance on behalf of: with a person as object.
- To take satisfaction for, by pain or punishment inflicted on the injuring party; deal punishment on account of: with a thing as object.
- To take revenge on; treat or deal with revengefully.
- Synonyms Avenge, Revenge. Until lately these words were used with little or no difference of meaning (see quotations under each). Avenge is now restricted to the taking of just punishment or the vindication of justice, and revenge to the infliction of pain or evil to gratify resentful feelings, or the desire of retaliation for some real or fancied wrong. Poetic use sometimes returns to the earlier freedom in the meaning of avenge. see revenge, n.
- To execute vengeance; inflict retaliatory pain or injury on a wrong-doer.
- n. Revenge; retaliation.
- n. Punishment; vengeance taken.
Wiktionary
- n. A vengeance; a revenge.
- v. To take vengeance (for); to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer.
- v. nonstandard To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To take vengeance for; to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer.
- v. obsolete To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on.
- v. To take vengeance.
- n. obsolete Vengeance; revenge.
WordNet 3.0
- v. take revenge for a perceived wrong
Etymologies
- From Old French avengier, from a- ("upon") + vengier, from Latin vindicare. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English avengen, from Old French avengier : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + vengier, to vindicate (from Latin vindicāre, to claim; see vindicate). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The Lord uses words without anxiety as to the misuse of them by such as do not search after his will in them; and the word avenge may be simply retained from the parable without its special meaning therein; yet it suggests a remark or two.”
“LUI: You know, Chris, the statement you were bringing up in your report, the official using the word "avenge" -- we don't commonly see that in a statement coming from a government agency or from an official.”
““Only a burning desire to clear my name and avenge my mentor.””
“The Taliban has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks, saying they were carried out to "avenge" the NATO airstrike and CIA drone missiles in Pakistan's lawless tribal region.”
The Washington Post: Pakistan reopens border to NATO supply trucks
“Public anger is simmering over the air incursions and an dramatic escalation of CIA drone strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal areas, and a Taliban spokesman vowed that it would "avenge" those attacks with more strikes on "foreign forces" in Pakistan, Reuters reported.”
“` ` It's the first time out this year, trying to kind of avenge a loss at the Fiesta Bowl last year, so there was a lot of preparation put in to come out and play well, '' said Bradford, referring to a 48-28 loss to West Virginia this January.”
“But after he divulges that his father basically killed himself over cooking, and Clay says that he's here to kind of avenge that death, I decide the producers would never show that clip to the viewers and then make him pack his knives.”
“Naxalite Maoist India: India scours forests to 'avenge' Maoist killings”
“Another thing, which bothers me, if no one else, is that US Marines will die to "avenge" them.”
“He called on the people to "avenge" Mr Sekete's death by means of a "clean-up operation".”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘avenge’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
Laban, circumcise, beget, Esau, Rebekah, speckle, Sodom, Pharaoh, Canaanite, Canaan, Jacob, Lot and 1286 more...
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Verbs
edit, delete, get, take, abide, be, catch, wash, watch, fly, eat, sleep and 33 more...
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GRE Readings
sophistry, religious, venture, touching, slander, rotunda, singular, spurious, rhetoric, virtue, temper, tardy and 133 more...
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quality words
This is a mix of new words I've read studying for the GRE verbal and words I use normally. I also check back on these words if I don't use them often enough.
ineffable, septuagenarian, sesquipedalian, argyle, coalescence, profundity, vivisepulture, defenestrate, concatenate, usurp, diatribe, veracious and 461 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
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Verbs
recant, shake, sway, abscond, waffle, vitiate, avenge, usurp, reinflame, vilifying
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OED word of the Day
Just like it says
majority, plasm, apal, statin, legerdemain, leap year, daffodil, maternal, key worker, jojoba, skelf, pose and 101 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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theinterlocutor's Words
interlocutor, schoenfraun, zesty, humility, gyped, capitol, scrabble, frank, adaptation, whale, wolphin, obfuscate and 20 more...
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dev's Words
irish, pogue, construct, rapture, delicious, ruthless, create, begin, australia, fete, beer, dear and 26 more...
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Eloquence
thwart, emulate, shun, bold, brazen, disgruntled, aberration, conclusively, destitute, indefensible, astute, discernment and 52 more...
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Words I'd like to use more often
abhor, giddy, refuse, adore, wretched, tussle, aplomb, tedious, perhaps, banal, vile, cavalier and 38 more...
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list of errata
self-explanatory
penchant, obligatory, avant garde, decadent, luxe, uninhibited, burnish, analog, dexterity, sensual, proliferate, murmur and 80 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for avenge.
bilby I like awengid better, sounds less like a car engine. Apr 21, 2008
travismcdermott c1375 WYCLIF Antecrist 126 Crist was suffryng & foryghaue, & thei wolen be awengid Apr 21, 2008