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retaliate vs punish

punish vs retaliate

retaliate and punish both are verbs.

Word NounAdjectiveVerbAdverb
retaliate No No Yes No
punish No No Yes No
As verbs, punish is a hypernym of retaliate; that is, punish is a word with a broader meaning than retaliate:
  • retaliate: take revenge for a perceived wrong
  • punish: impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on
Other hypernyms of retaliate include penalise, penalize.
retaliate (verb) punish (verb)
make a counterattack and return like for like, especially evil for evil impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on
take revenge for a perceived wrong
Difference between retaliate and punish

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