Link Centre Dictionary

payback

pay·back

UK/ˈpeɪbæk/ US/ˈpeɪˌbæk/ fairly common

noun

2.

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”

Origin

Deverbal from pay back.

Phrases

  • community payback
  • energy payback time

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.