Hypertext Webster Gateway: "reprisal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Reprisal \Re*pris"al\ (r?-priz"al), n. [F. repr?saille, It.
ripresaglia, rappresaglia, LL. reprensaliae, fr. L.
reprehendere, reprehensum. See {Reprehend}, {Reprise}.]
1. The act of taking from an enemy by way of reteliation or
indemnity.
Debatable ground, on which incursions and reprisals
continued to take place. --Macaulay.
2. Anything taken from an enemy in retaliation.
3. The act of retorting on an enemy by inflicting suffering
or death on a prisoner taken from him, in retaliation for
an act of inhumanity. --Vattel (Trans.)
4. Any act of retaliation. --Waterland.
{Letters of marque and reprisal}. See under {Marque}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
reprisal
n : a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime
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