AVENGE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Avenge

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/əvˈɛndʒ/ Listen

verb

Avenge v. t. (past & past part. avenged; pres. part. avenging)

To take vengeance for; to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer. "He will avenge the blood of his servants." "Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold." "He had avenged himself on them by havoc such as England had never before seen."

To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on. (Obs.) "Thy judgment in avenging thine enemies."

Synonyms: To Avenge, Revenge. To avenge is to inflict punishment upon evil doers in behalf of ourselves, or others for whom we act; as, to avenge one's wrongs; to avenge the injuries of the suffering and innocent. It is to inflict pain for the sake of vindication, or retributive justice. To revenge is to inflict pain or injury for the indulgence of resentful and malicious feelings. The former may at times be a duty; the latter is one of the worst exhibitions of human character. "I avenge myself upon another, or I avenge another, or I avenge a wrong. I revenge only myself, and that upon another."

Avenge v. i. To take vengeance.

noun

Avenge n. Vengeance; revenge. (Obs.)

See images of 'Avenge'

Etymology of 'Avenge'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Avenge" Quotes from Famous Books

... honesty, and mercy are confined within the limits of the nation. It is true that a prominent commandment given to Israel and endorsed by our Lord runs thus: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.'[22] But the extent of the obligation seems to be restricted by the context: 'Thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people.' It is contended that the word translated 'neighbour' bears a wider import than the English term, and is really applicable to any person. The larger idea is expressed in vv. 33, ...

— Christianity and Ethics - A Handbook of Christian Ethics • Archibald B. C. Alexander

... sad rang the answer of Lir: "Alas! Eva, your foster-child, hath by her wicked magic changed them into four snow-white swans. On the blue waters of Lake Darvra dwell Finola, Aed, Fiacra, and Conn, and thence come I that I may avenge ...

— Boys and Girls Bookshelf (Vol 2 of 17) - Folk-Lore, Fables, And Fairy Tales • Various

... which place there was a forest of five-and-thirty leagues long, and seventeen in breadth, or thereabouts. This forest was most horribly fertile and copious in dorflies, hornets, and wasps, so that it was a very purgatory for the poor mares, asses, and horses. But Gargantua's mare did avenge herself handsomely of all the outrages therein committed upon beasts of her kind, and that by a trick whereof they had no suspicion. For as soon as ever they were entered into the said forest, and that the wasps had given the assault, she drew out and unsheathed ...

— Gargantua and Pantagruel, Complete. • Francois Rabelais

... immediately, on the first news of the massacres, fled into England, Germany, or Switzerland; where they excited the compassion and indignation of the Protestants, and prepared themselves, with increased forces and redoubled zeal, to return into France, and avenge the treacherous slaughter of their brethren. Those who lived in the middle of the kingdom took shelter in the nearest garrisons occupied by the Hugonots; and finding that they could repose no faith in ...

— The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part D. - From Elizabeth to James I. • David Hume

... lost comrades at the hands of the Germans and now were to avenge them. No quarter was asked or expected. The Germans had orders to fight to the death and the Americans needed ...

— America's War for Humanity • Thomas Herbert Russell

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