Vengeance
Vengeance , noun
[French vengeance, from venger to avenge, Latin vindicare to lay claim to, defend, avenge, from vindex a claimant, defender, avenger, the first part of which is of uncertain origin, and the last part akin to dicere to say. See Diction, and compare Avenge, Revenge, Vindicate.]
1.
Punishment inflicted in return for an injury or an offense; retribution; -- often, in a bad sense, passionate or unrestrained revenge.
To me belongeth vengeance and recompense.
To execute fierce vengeance on his foes.
2.
Harm; mischief. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
Collocations (2)
What a vengeance or What the vengeance , what! -- emphatically. [Obsolete] But what a vengeance makes thee fly! What the vengeance! Could he not speak 'em fair?
With a vengeance , (a) with great violence; as, to strike with a vengeance. [Colloquial] (b) with even greater intensity; as, to return one's insult with a vengeance.