avenge

[uh-venj]

verb (used with object), a·venged, a·veng·ing.

to take vengeance or exact satisfaction for: to avenge a grave insult.
to take vengeance on behalf of: He avenged his brother.

Origin of avenge

1325–75; Middle English avengen < Old French avengier, equivalent to a- a-⁵ + vengier < Latin vindicāre; see vindicate

Related formsa·venge·ful, adjectivea·veng·er, nouna·veng·ing·ly, adverbun·a·venged, adjectiveun·a·veng·ing, adjectiveun·a·veng·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for avenge

vindicate.

Synonym study

Avenge, revenge both imply to inflict pain or harm in return for pain or harm inflicted on oneself or those persons or causes to which one feels loyalty. The two words were formerly interchangeable, but have been differentiated until they now convey widely diverse ideas. Avenge is now restricted to inflicting punishment as an act of retributive justice or as a vindication of propriety: to avenge a murder by bringing the criminal to trial. Revenge implies inflicting pain or harm to retaliate for real or fancied wrongs; a reflexive pronoun is often used with this verb: Iago wished to revenge himself upon Othello.

Antonyms for avenge

1. forgive.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for avengers

nemesis, vindicator

Examples from the Web for avengers

Contemporary Examples of avengers

Crystal is a onetime member of the Avengers, and in various storylines is also married to Quicksilver.
Inside Marvel’s Phase 3: How ‘The Avengers’ Cross Paths with Black Panther and the New Superheroes
Marlow Stern
October 30, 2014
Eventually, the Avengers team up with Thanos to do battle with the Magus.
Inside Marvel’s Phase 3: How ‘The Avengers’ Cross Paths with Black Panther and the New Superheroes
Marlow Stern
October 30, 2014
The Avengers, despite its overall gross, only earned back 690 percent of its total budget.
Marvel and DC Plan 20 Movies for the Next Six Years: Will the Comic Book Movie Bubble Burst?
Rich Goldstein
October 29, 2014
There are a lot more scenes of the entire Avengers gang together—both in and out of the cape, so to speak.
Jeremy Renner Opens Up About Marriage, His Problems with the Media, and the Future of Hawk-Eye
Marlow Stern
September 29, 2014
For me, I signed on to The Avengers 1-3 and then Hawk-Eye, in case they want to do a Hawk-Eye spin-off.
Jeremy Renner Opens Up About Marriage, His Problems with the Media, and the Future of Hawk-Eye
Marlow Stern
September 29, 2014

Historical Examples of avengers

Are our visitors then messengers of morality, avengers of righteousness, agents of Providence?
Victory
Joseph Conrad
Within a hand's cast of the avengers of blood humped the black boulder.
Bob, Son of Battle
Alfred Ollivant
He must give up all the past, name and all, for was he not flying from the avengers?
How It All Came Round
L. T. Meade
And when she told the others of this, they all agreed that the avengers must be near.
Eskimo Folktales
Unknown
Fresh face and sweet heart, we shall be the avengers of Flanders.
The Legend of Ulenspiegel, Vol. II (of 2)
Charles de Coster

British Dictionary definitions for avengers

avenge

verb

(usually tr) to inflict a punishment in retaliation for (harm, injury, etc) done to (a person or persons); take revenge for or on behalf ofto avenge a crime; to avenge a murdered friend

Derived Formsavenger, noun

Word Origin for avenge

C14: from Old French avengier, from vengier, from Latin vindicāre; see vengeance, vindicate

usage

The use of avenge with a reflexive pronoun was formerly considered incorrect, but is now acceptable: she avenged herself on the man who killed her daughter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for avengers

avenge

late 14c., from Anglo-French avenger, Old French avengier, from a- "to" (see ad-) + vengier "take revenge" (Modern French venger), from Latin vindicare "to claim, avenge, punish" (see vindicate). Related: Avenged; avenging.