小词详解 | retaliate

retaliate 英 [rɪˈtælieɪt] 美 [rɪˈtælieɪt]

IELTS TEM8 GRE

外刊例句

• If these appeals fail, the EU has been most vocal in vowing to retaliate, in turn prompting Mr Trump to threaten levies on European cars.
  欧盟立场最鲜明，明言如果申请豁免失败，必将采取报复措施，这反过来又促使特朗普威胁对欧洲汽车征税。
  ——《经济学人》

• America’s trading partners have room to retaliate.
  美国的贸易伙伴们有反击的余地。
  ——《纽约时报》

基本释义

[verb] make an attack or assault in return for a similar attack
[动词] 以类似的攻击或袭击发起反击

深入解读

Retaliate 一词于17世纪10年代由拉丁语 retaliare （以同样的方式回敬）的过去分词 retaliatus 进入英语，原指出于善良、礼貌而“回报、回敬、报答”。

不过到了17世纪30年代后， retaliate 开始用在伤害、虐待等方面并发展出现在的主要含义指“报复、反击、复仇”，主要指以刚好相似的方式对来自他人的伤害进行报复性反击，比如：

• 那个手巧的男孩打了他妹妹，妹妹则回敬了他一脚。
  The ingenious boy hit his sister, who retaliated by kicking him.

• 示威者挤满了街道，并向警察投掷石块，警察则还以颜色，向人群发射空弹。
  The demonstrators crammed the streets and threw rocks at the police, who retaliated by firing blanks into the crowd.

名著用例

Harry felt the familiar boiling sensation in the pit of his stomach. Biting his tongue to prevent himself retaliating, he sat down in front of the boxes and pulled one toward him.
哈利又感到怒火中烧，他咬着牙不让自己反击，在文件盒前面坐了下来，把一个盒子拖到面前。

出自英国作家J·K·罗琳的奇幻小说《哈利·波特》系列的第六本《哈利·波特与混血王子》（Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince）。

同近义词

• react: respond or behave in a particular way in response to something

• reciprocate: respond to (a gesture or action) by making a corresponding one

• requite: make appropriate return for (a favor, service, or wrongdoing)

往期回顾