tit-for-tat

From tit for tat.

tit-for-tat (not comparable)

1. Having the characteristic of returning bad for bad.

   Unfortunately, many adults retain a tit-for-tat attitude, but in a more refined way than the simple, childish shove for shove.

   • 2007 June 22, The Guardian, London:

     Amid fears that the end to more than five and a half years of talks would lead to a new era of tit-for-tat protectionism, negotiations between the United States and the European Union broke down.