tit for tat

noun

1. with an equivalent given in retaliation, as a blow for a blow, repartee, etc..

   He answered their insults tit for tat.

tit for tat

noun

1. an equivalent given in return or retaliation; blow for blow

tit for tat

1. Giving back exactly what one receives: “If you hit me, I'll do the same to you; it's tit for tat.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of tit for tat¹

First recorded in 1550–60; perhaps variant of earlier tip for tap

Word History and Origins

Origin of tit for tat¹

C16: from earlier tip for tap

Idioms and Phrases

Repayment in kind, retaliation, as in If he won't help with the beach clean-up, I won't run a booth at the bake sale; that's tit for tat. This term is believed to be a corruption of tip for tap, which meant “a blow for a blow.” Its current form dates from the mid-1500s.

Example Sentences

“The concern for the public and for representative democracy is that you’re going to have a lot of tit for tat moving forward,” Skelley told Salon.

Read more on Salon

Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC said the gang rivalry had seen a number of "tit for tat" murders and attempted murders in London and overseas over the past 10 years.

Read more on BBC

Instead of tit for tat, the prime minister is pivoting Canada with precision toward alternative trade blocs like Europe and the Pacific Rim.

Read more on Salon

This current tit for tat spat involving the Reform UK leader Farage and the MP for Great Yarmouth, Rupert Lowe, has seen both sides flinging a lot of mud at each other.

Read more on BBC

She reeled off a list of villages nearer the border - now deserted and destroyed after the past year of tit for tat exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel.

Read more on BBC