vengeance

with a vengeance

Determinedly or passionately, perhaps fueled by anger. After my girlfriend dumped me, I started working out with a vengeance. We're going to have to clean with a vengeance to get the house ready in time.See also: vengeance

revenge is sweet

Revenge is a potent source of satisfaction and pleasure. John had been bullying and humiliating us for the entire year, so a group of about 20 or so kids got together to peg him with dozens of rotten eggs at the senior prom. Revenge is sweet. Revenge was sweet for the team on Saturday, as they defeated their cross-town rivals for the first time in 10 years. He tormented me for being such a bookworm throughout high school. Now, I run a multi-billion-dollar company while he flips burgers at a fast food restaurant. Revenge is sweet, sometimes.See also: revenge, sweet

flame with (an emotion)

Of the eyes, to seem to convey a particular feeling or emotion with intensity. Callie's eyes flamed with anger when I accused her of cheating on the test. Of course John's interested in you—his eyes are practically flaming with desire every time he looks at you.See also: flame

do something with a vengeance

Fig. to do something with vigor; to do something energetically as if one were angry. Bob is building that fence with a vengeance. Mary is really weeding her garden with a vengeance.See also: vengeance

flame with anger

and flame with resentment; flame with lust; flame with vengeanceFig. [for someone's eyes] to "blaze" or seem to communicate a particular quality or excitement, usually a negative feeling. His eyes flamed with resentment when he heard Sally's good news. Her eyes flamed with hatred.See also: anger, flame

Revenge is sweet.

Prov. It is very pleasurable to revenge yourself on someone. Jill: Remember when Tom left me for another woman? Well, she just left him, and he asked me out on a date. I told him I had better things to do. Jane: Revenge is sweet, huh?See also: revenge, sweet

with a vengeance

Cliché with determination and eagerness. The angry soldier attacked the enemy with a vengeance. Bill ate all his dinner and gobbled up his dessert with a vengeance.See also: vengeance

wreak vengeance (up)on someone or something

Cliché to seek and get revenge on someone by harming someone or something. The gangster wreaked his vengeance by destroying his rival's house. The general wanted to wreak vengeance on the opposing army for their recent successful attack.See also: on, vengeance, wreak

with a vengeance

With great violence or energy; also, to an extreme degree. For example, The cottage was filthy and Ruth began cleaning with a vengeance, or December has turned cold with a vengeance. This expression was first recorded in 1533. Also see with a will. See also: vengeance

with a vengeance

in a higher degree than was expected or desired; in the fullest sense.See also: vengeance

do something with a ˈvengeance

(informal) do something with great energy or force: After the holidays I need to start working with a vengeance. ♢ The rain came down with a vengeance.See also: something, vengeance

with a vengeance

1. With great violence or force.2. To an extreme degree: December has turned cold with a vengeance.See also: vengeance

revenge is sweet

Retaliation is wonderfully satisfying. Occasionally put as vengeance is sweet, this observation was made by the ancients, from Homer in the Iliad to Juvenal in his Satires. In English it was voiced by Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and countless others. Here is a misogynist version by Byron (Don Juan, 1819–24): “Sweet is revenge—especially to women.”See also: revenge, sweet

with a vengeance

Forcefully, extremely hard. Vengeance in this old expression is not the same as “revenge” (see also revenge is sweet). It was already in print in 1533, in the same meaning it has today. “Be gone quickly, or my pikestaff and I will set thee away with a vengeance,” wrote George Peele (King Edward I, 1593).See also: vengeance

Vengeance

Absalomkills half-brother, Amnon, for raping sister, Tamar. [O. T.: II Samuel 13:28–29]AcamasAeneas’s companion; kills Promachus to avenge brother’s murder. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad]Acarnan and Amphoterusenabled by Zeus to grow to manhood in single day to avenge father’s murder. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmer-man, 2]Achillesavenges Patroclus’s death by brutally killing Hector. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad]Agagmutilated by Samuel to requite Israelite slaughter. [O.T.: I Samuel 15:33]Ahab, Captainseeks revenge on whale. [Am. Lit.: Moby Dick]Alastorepithet applied to Zeus and others as avenger. [Gk. Myth.: NCE, 49]Alfiotakes vengeance on Turiddu for adultery with his wife. [Ital. Opera: Mascagni, Cavalleria Rusticana, Westerman, 338–339]Atreuscuckolded by brother, serves him his sons for dinner. [Rom. Lit.: Thyestes, Brewer Dictionary, 1081]Balfour, Ebenezertakes vengeance on David, whose father stole Ebenezer’s woman. [Brit. Lit.: Kidnapped]Barabashis house and riches seized by the governor, murders the governor’s son and others, and betrays the city to the Turks. [Br. Drama: Marlowe The Jew of Malta in Bella, 521]Calvo, BaldassareTito’s aged benefactor, robbed and betrayed by Tito, eventually denounces and strangles him. [Br. Lit.: George Eliot Romola]Chillingworth, Rogertortures Dimmesdale for adultery. [Am. Lit.: The Scarlet Letter]Colombawill not rest until father’s murder is avenged. [Fr. Lit.: Colomba]Coppeliusdestroys Olympia because of bad check. [Fr. Opera: Offenbach, Tales of Hoffmann, Westerman, 275]Cousin Bettedeprived of her lover by Baron Hulot, she eventually manages to ruin the family. [Fr. Lit.: Balzac Cousin Bette in Magill I, 166]cry of bloodinnocent victim’s blood calls for justice. [O.T.: Genesis 4:10; Br. Lit.: Richard II]Dantès, Edmonduses his wealth to punish those who betrayed him. [Fr. Lit.: Dumas The Count of Monte Cristo]Diraeavenging goddesses or Furies. [Rom. Myth.: LLEI,l: 326]Don Carlostakes vengeance upon Alvaro, alleged murderer of his father. [Ital. Opera: Verdi, La Forza del Destino, Wester-man, 316–317]Electrawreaks vengeance on her father’s murderers. [Gk. Lit.: Electra]Epigoni, thesons of the chiefs killed in the siege of Thebes avenge their fathers’ deaths by razing the city. [Gk. Myth.: Benét, 318]eye for an eyeMoses’s lex talionis. [O.T.: Exodus 21:23–25; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21]Falke, Dr.avenges his public humiliation by Eisenstein. [Aust. Operetta: J. Strauss, Die Fledermaus, Westerman, 278]Furieshorrible avengers of crimes. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 381]golden cockerel, thewarns the king whenever enemies approach, but kills him when he breaks his promise of a reward. [Russ. Ballet: Coq d’Or in Goode, 78]Hamletspurred on by his father’s ghost, avenges murder of his father. [Br. Lit.: Hamlet]Hecubakills Polymestor’s children and blinds him for his treacherous murder of her son Polydorus. [Gk. Drama: Euripides Hecuba in Benét, 450]Herodiasspitefully effects decapitation of John the Baptist. [N.T.: Mark 6:19–26]Hiawathaadventurous avenger of his father’s wickedness to his mother. [Am. Lit.: Longfellow The Song of Hiawatha in Magill I, 905]Hieronimostages a play that gives him the opportunity to kill his son’s murderers. [Br. Drama: The Spanish Tragedy in Magill II, 990]Hope, Jeffersonto avenge the murder of his sweetheart by two Mormons, trails them from Utah to London and kills both. [Br. Lit.: Doyle A Study in Scarlet in Sherlock Holmes]Joabkills Abner, murderer of his brother. [O.T.: II Samuel 3:27]Kentucky Tragedynoted tale of retribution, inspired many works. [Am. Hist.: Benét, 544]Lisbeth(Cousin Bette) swears to get back at the Hulots. [Fr. Lit.: Cousin Bette, Magill I, 166–168]Malta, The Jew ofChristian-hating merchant’s betrayal of Malta. [Br. Lit.: The Jew of Malta]Medeauses poisoned nightgown to kill Jason’s new wife. [Fr. Opera: Cherubini, Medea, Westerman, 81]Montresorredresses insult by entombing insulter in catacomb niche. [Am. Lit.: Poe “The Cask of Amontillado”]Nemesisdaughter of Night, brought retribution upon haughty. [Gk. Myth.: Hall, 221]Oresteskilled his mother and her lover for having murdered his father. [Gk. Myth.: Benét, 741]Pied Piper, therefused his promised reward for ridding Hamelin of rats, he lures the children away. [Ger. Legend: Benét, 787]Rigolettowreaks vengeance on daughter-seducing Duke of Mantua. [Ital. Opera: Verdi, Rigoletto, Westerman, 300]Samsonbrings down the temple of the Philistines to avenge their blinding of him and dies in the process. [O.T.: Judges 16:28-30]Sextuskills Ptolemy for the murder of Pompey. [Br. Opera: Julius Caesar in Egypt, Westerman, 52–53]Tamoraplots to avenge son by murdering the Andronicus family. [Br. Lit.: Titus Andronicus]Titus Andronicusexacts revenge for crimes against his family. [Br. Lit.: Titus Andronicus]Todd, Sweeneybarber returns to England; takes revenge for false conviction by slitting throats of customers. [Br. Folklore: Misc; Br. Lit.: Sweeney Todd; Am. Musical Theater: Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, in Facts (1979), 292.]trefoiltraditional symbol of vengeance. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 178]Zachanassian, Clairea multi-millionairess, she bribes the villagers to execute the man who was responsible for her shame. [Swiss Drama: Duerrenmatt The Visit in Benét, 1063]

vengeance

ven·geance

vengeance

venge•ance

vengeance

vengeance

vengeance

vengeance

with a vengeance

revenge is sweet

flame with (an emotion)

do something with a vengeance

flame with anger

Revenge is sweet.

with a vengeance

wreak vengeance (up)on someone or something

with a vengeance

with a vengeance

do something with a ˈvengeance

with a vengeance

revenge is sweet

with a vengeance

Vengeance

Vengeance

vengeance

Synonyms for vengeance

noun revenge

Synonyms

Antonyms

phrase with a vengeance

Synonyms

Synonyms for vengeance

noun the act of retaliating

Synonyms

Synonyms for vengeance

noun the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation for something harmful that they have done) especially in the next life

Synonyms

Related Words