ret·ri·bu·tion /ˌrɛtrəˈbjuʃən/
報應,懲罰,報復
Ret·ri·bu·tion n.
1. The act of retributing; repayment.
In good offices and due retributions, we may not be pinching and niggardly. --Bp. Hall.
2. That which is given in repayment or compensation; return suitable to the merits or deserts of, as an action; commonly, condign punishment for evil or wrong.
All who have their reward on earth, . . .
Naught seeking but the praise of men, here find
Fit retribution, empty as their deeds. --Milton.
3. Specifically, reward and punishment, as distributed at the general judgment.
It is a strong argument for a state of retribution hereafter, that in this world virtuous persons are very often unfortunate, and vicious persons prosperous. --Addison.
Syn: -- Repayment; requital; recompense; payment; retaliation.
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retribution
n 1: a justly deserved penalty [syn: requital]
2: the act of correcting for your wrongdoing
3: 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" [syn: vengeance,
payback]