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 ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
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