You searched for: “avenge”
avenge (uh VENJ)
1. A person who avenges is usually a third party acting on behalf of another in the sense of achieving justice; to wreak vengeance, to retaliate, to get even for, to punish: "Sam avenged his mother's injury." "Bill planned to avenge his brother's death by burning the murderer's house down." "The settlers avenged the burning of the fort by destroying an Indian village."
2. Etymology: from Old French avengier, from a-, "to" + vengier, "to take revenge", accusative of vis dicta, literally "announced force"; that is, "announcement of force"; from Latin vindicare, "to claim, to avenge, to punish"; from vim dicare, "to show authority", from vim, accusative of vis, "force" + root of dicere, "to say".
This entry is located in the following unit: dic-, dict- (page 2)
avenge, revenge, revenge, vengeance
avenge (uh VENJ) (verb)
The act of doing something to hurt another person in the sense of achieving justice because that party caused harm to someone; to repay: "Sam wants to avenge and to punish the person who caused his mother's injuries."

"Bill planned to avenge his brother's death by burning the murderer's house down."

revenge (ri VENJ) (verb)
To seek reprisal by the person who is wronged or offended; to pay back: "Tyson still plans to revenge the insult done to him by getting even."
revenge (ri VENJ) (noun)
An action taken in return for an injury or harmful offense: "Jamal humiliated her, but Kellie says she will get revenge for what he said."
vengeance (VEN juhns) (noun)
An act of punishment in retaliation for an injury or offense: "Elliott was determined to get vengeance for the murder of his sister."

The tree that was chopped down in Judge Desmond's front yard looked like an act of vengeance, as if someone were trying to avenge himself because of the decisions that, as the chief magistrate, he made in court in which he chided the accused for attempting to revenge himself against his neighbor.

This entry is located in the following unit: Confusing Words Clarified: Group A; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. + (page 9)