avenge

verb

avenged; avenging

transitive verb

1
: to take vengeance for or on behalf of
vowed to avenge their murdered father
2
: to exact satisfaction for (a wrong) by punishing the wrongdoer
was determined to avenge the assault
avenger noun

Examples of avenge in a Sentence

The brothers vowed to avenge the death of their father. They vowed to avenge their father by capturing and punishing his killer.
Recent Examples on the Web The Trojans avenged their rivalry loss from January on Saturday, blitzing UCLA with 10 consecutive points to start the second half for a 62-56 victory at Pauley Pavilion. Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 25 Feb. 2024 The championship avenged last season’s 4-0 loss to Carondelet in the final and gave San Ramon Valley its first section title since 2016. Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2024 Based in part on the life of its screenwriter Mykola Voronin, Sniper tells the story of a pacifist physics teacher who becomes a sniper during the 2014 conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region, avenging the death of his pregnant wife. Sabiha Çimen, Harper's Magazine, 15 Feb. 2024 Can the 49ers avenge their Super Bowl loss at home, too? NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more. Ayrton Ostly, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 Brandon Lee in The Crow is one of the foundational moments in goth representation onscreen, playing an undead man who, after being resurrected by a crow, avenges his and his fiancée's murders. Kevin Jacobsen, EW.com, 21 Feb. 2024 The Bears made just enough plays in the late stages to beat Washington 82-80 and avenge a buzzer-beating loss to UW last month in Berkeley. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 19 Feb. 2024 From a Kansas perspective, one of the worst aspects of the 2023-24 Big 12 men’s basketball schedule is the Jayhawks do not get the opportunity to avenge road losses to Texas Tech, Iowa State, West Virginia and UCF in return games at Allen Fieldhouse. Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 16 Feb. 2024 Eastvale Roosevelt, the top seed in Pool B, avenged a double-overtime loss to JSerra in November with a 64-51 win over the Lions. Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'avenge.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French avenger, from a- (from Latin ad-) + venger to avenge — more at vengeance

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of avenge was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near avenge

Cite this Entry

“Avenge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avenge. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

avenge

verb
avenged; avenging
: to take vengeance for (an action) or on behalf of (a person)
avenger noun

More from Merriam-Webster on avenge

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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