eye for an eye

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eye for an eye (and a tooth for a tooth).

Prov. If someone hurts you, you should punish the offender by hurting him or her in the same way. (An ancient principle of justice going back to biblical times.) When they were children, the two brothers operated on the principle of an eye for an eye, so that if the older one hit the younger one, the younger one was entitled to hit him back just as hard.

See also: eye

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His pursuit of the murderers had not been characterized by excessive speed; but rather more in keeping with his mental attitude, which was marked by a dogged determination to require from the Germans more than an eye for an eye and more than a tooth for a tooth, the element of time entering but slightly into his calculations. Tarzan the Untamed by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context Oh, I would fight for such a cause; but in return for a slow, profound, eternal torture, I would give back the same, were it possible; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, as the Orientalists say, -- our masters in everything, -- those favored creatures who have formed for themselves a life of dreams and a paradise of realities. The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas, Alexandre View in context It is, if I may take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; for every wrench of agony return a wrench: reduce him to my level. Wuthering Heights by Bronte, Emily View in context			expropriate expunge from expurgate from extend extend across extend credit extend over extend sympathy extend to extent extenuating circumstances extol as extoll the virtues of extort from extract from extracurricular activity extradite extrapolate from extreme extricate from exult exult at exult in eye eye candy eye for an eye eye of the hurricane eyeball eyeball to eyeball eyeball-to-eyeball eyebrow eyed eyeful eyelid eyes are bigger than belly eyes are out on stalks eyes like saucers eyes like two burnt holes in a blanket eyes pop out of head eyetooth face face away face doesn't fit face down face facts face forward face head-on face into face is a picture face it face off			eye dog eye dog Eye dominance eye donation Eye drop Eye drop Eye drop Eye drop eye dropper Eye Drops Eye enucleation Eye enucleation Eye enucleation Eye exam Eye examination Eye Expressions, Miscellaneous Eye fatigue Eye fatigue Eye fatigue Eye Field Transcription Factor Eye floater Eye floater Eye floater Eye floater Eye floaters Eye floaters Eye floaters Eye floaters eye fluke Eye fly eye for an eye Eye Fresh Technology Eye Glass Holder Eye glasses Eye glasses Eye Glasses and Contact Lenses Eye Hand Coordination Eye hate god Eye Health Council of Canada Eye Health Vision Centers eye impression eye impression eye impression eye impression Eye In The Sky eye infection Eye injuries Eye injury Eye injury and lawsuit Eye Injury Reporting System Eye Institute of New Jersey Eye laceration Eye lacerations Eye lens Eye Level Pentaprism Eye lid Eye lid Eye lid Eye liner eye loupes eye mask

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