Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1400-1500
Language: Old French
Origin: reprisaille, from Old Italian, from riprendere 'to take back'

reprisal

 noun
     
re‧pri‧sal [uncountable and countable]
something violent or harmful which you do to punish someone for something bad they have done to you [↪ revenge, retaliation]:
They didn't tell the police for fear of reprisal.
reprisal against
There were reprisals against unarmed civilians.
in reprisal (for something)
Alfred was shot in reprisal for the killing of a rival gang member.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary