RETRIBUTION • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Retribution

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/rˌɛtrəbjˈuʃən/ Listen

noun

Retribution n.

The act of retributing; repayment. "In good offices and due retributions, we may not be pinching and niggardly."

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."

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."

Synonyms: Repayment; requital; recompense; payment; retaliation.

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Etymology of 'Retribution'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Retribution" Quotes from Famous Books

... that, stumble as he liked, Theo did not correct him nor say a word. He sat with his head propped on his hands, and when Geoff paused said, "Go on." Either this meant something very awful in the shape of fault-finding when the culprit had come to the end of the lesson, the exemption now meaning dire retribution then, or else—there was something very wrong with Theo. Geoff's little sharp eyes seemed to leap out of their sockets with excitement ...

— A Country Gentleman and his Family • Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

... spirit that had vainly sought Rest from a hungry surge of thought; Fierce retribution!—thus to be Tortured ...

— Daisy Dare, and Baby Power - Poems • Rosa Vertner Jeffrey

... can only harm," he said at last. "We will see what can be done. I'll take the proper steps. It can be done legally and verified by the other witnesses. The butler identifies her, you say. It's a curious case of retribution. I can't help imagining Mahr's feelings when he recognized her voice. Is your patient at all dangerous otherwise?" He ...

— Out of the Ashes • Ethel Watts Mumford

... and arm-chair, in the finger-plates of the 'grained' door, is to be seen the ineffectual portrait or to be traced the stale inspiration of the flower. And what is this bossiness around the grate but some blunt, black-leaded garland? The recital is wearisome, but the retribution of the flower is precisely weariness. It is the persecution of man, the haunting of his trivial visions, and the ...

— The Rhythm of Life • Alice Meynell

... recovery, there was a disagreeable silent remembrance of her having strangled her sister's canary-bird in a final fit of exasperation at its shrill singing which had again and again jarringly interrupted her own. She had taken pains to buy a white mouse for her sister in retribution, and though inwardly excusing herself on the ground of a peculiar sensitiveness which was a mark of her general superiority, the thought of that infelonious murder had always made her wince. Gwendolen's nature was not remorseless, but she liked to make her penances easy, and now that she was ...

— Daniel Deronda • George Eliot

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