avenge
verb /əˈvendʒ/
/əˈvendʒ/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they avenge | /əˈvendʒ/ /əˈvendʒ/ |
| he / she / it avenges | /əˈvendʒɪz/ /əˈvendʒɪz/ |
| past simple avenged | /əˈvendʒd/ /əˈvendʒd/ |
| past participle avenged | /əˈvendʒd/ /əˈvendʒd/ |
| -ing form avenging | /əˈvendʒɪŋ/ /əˈvendʒɪŋ/ |
- to punish or hurt somebody in return for something bad or wrong that they have done to you, your family or friends
- avenge something He promised to avenge his father's murder.
- In time, perhaps, these deaths will be avenged.
- They were out to avenge last season’s defeat.
- avenge yourself on somebody She was determined to avenge herself on the man who had betrayed her.
Grammar Point avenge / revengeavenge / revengeAvenge is a verb; revenge is (usually) a noun.- People avenge something or avenge themselves on somebody:
- She vowed to avenge her brother’s death.
- He later avenged himself on his wife’s killers.
- In more formal or literary English, revenge can also be a verb. People revenge themselves on somebody or are revenged on them (with the same meaning):
- He was later revenged on his wife’s killers.
- She vowed to revenge her brother’s death.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryAvenge is used with these nouns as the object:- death
- murder
- wrong
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French avengier, from a- (from Latin ad ‘to’) + vengier, from Latin vindicare ‘vindicate’.