eye for an eye

English

Etymology

A calque of Hebrew עין תחת עין‎ (ayin tahat ayin), in reference to Exodus 21:23-25: "And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" (King James Version).

Pronunciation
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Noun

eye for an eye

  1. (idiomatic) compensation for injury caused by a person, in the form of inflicting an identical injury on that person.

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