vengeance : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: vengeance	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for vengeance
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
vengeance n 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" Synonym(s): vengeance, retribution, payback
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Vengeance \Venge"ance\, n. [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.] [bd]But what a vengeance makes thee fly![b8] --Hudibras. [bd]What the vengeance! Could he not speak 'em fair?[b8] --Shak. {With a vengeance}, with great violence; as, to strike with a vengeance. [Colloq.]