an eye for an eye
Cultural
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The principle of justice that requires punishment equal in kind to the offense (not greater than the offense, as was frequently given in ancient times). Thus, if someone puts out another's eye, one of the offender's eyes should be put out. The principle is stated in the Book of Exodus as “Thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
eye for an eye, an
Idioms
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Punishment in which the offender suffers what the victim has suffered, exact retribution, as in Joe believed in an eye for an eye; stealing his client would have to be avenged. This idiom is a quotation from the Bible, which has “Life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Deuteronomy 19:21); the idea is contradicted in the New Testament (see turn the other cheek).
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see eye for an eye.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any
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She offers a better resolution than an eye for an eye, in the form a honey-flavored absolution, baked with love.
From
Salon
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Jan. 17, 2024
“Justice is seen as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
From
The Guardian
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Jun. 16, 2018
But why does justice require an eye for an eye?
From
New York Times
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Aug. 22, 2016
“We don’t believe in an eye for an eye, and we advocate against gun violence.”
From
Los Angeles Times
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Jun. 16, 2016
The law of retaliation also, "an eye for an eye," was a law.
From
Folkways
A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals
by Sumner, William Graham
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
