Word · Frequency #15088
reprisals
报复；报仇
reprisals is the plural of reprisal.
a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime
- 1.
An act of retaliation.
报复行为；反击行为。
报复行为；反击行为。；报复；报仇；报复性劫掠；[法] 复仇；报复性暴力为
In use
After the ambush, the general ordered a reprisal against the enemy troops.
The villagers feared reprisals if they helped the resistance fighters.
Attacking the civilian port would be a severe reprisal for the sinking of the naval ship.
in reprisal for sth
in reprisal for 是固定短语，表示“为了报复……”，for 后接名词或名词短语。
The attack was carried out in reprisal for the embassy bombing.
这次袭击是为了报复大使馆爆炸事件而实施的。
take reprisals against sb
take reprisals against 表示“对……采取报复行动”，reprisals 常用复数形式。
The government took reprisals against the rebels.
政府对叛乱者采取了报复行动。
face reprisals (from sb)
face reprisals 意为“面临报复”，多用于担心受到惩罚的语境。
Workers who complained faced reprisals from management.
投诉的工人面临管理层的报复。
Common mistakes
The government reprisaled against the terrorist attack.The government launched reprisals against the terrorist attack.
reprisal 是名词，不是动词。汉语的“报复”可作动词，但英语中表示“进行报复”需用 take/launch/carry out reprisals 或动词 retaliate；不能说 reprisal 用作谓语。
They bombed the port in reprisal of the enemy's attack.They bombed the port in reprisal for the enemy's attack.
表示“因……而报复”时，短语是 in reprisal for，介词用 for 引出报复的原因，不能用 of。
He took reprisal against his opponent.He took reprisals against his opponent.
reprisal 是可数名词，指具体的报复行为时通常用复数 reprisals（或 a reprisal）；“采取报复行动”习惯说 take reprisals，而不是不带冠词的 take reprisal。
Connections
Collocations
- in reprisal for
- 作为对…的报复
- The attack was carried out in reprisal for the bombing.这次袭击是为了报复那场爆炸。
- fear of reprisal
- 害怕报复
- Many witnesses did not testify for fear of reprisal.许多证人因为害怕报复而没有作证。
- take reprisals against
- 对…采取报复行动
- The government threatened to take reprisals against the rebels.政府威胁要对叛乱分子采取报复行动。
- military reprisals
- 军事报复
- The army launched military reprisals against the village.军队对村庄发动了军事报复。
- suffer reprisals
- 遭受报复
- Anyone who spoke out risked suffering reprisals.任何直言不讳的人都可能遭受报复。
- reprisal attack
Learner notes
Memory Tip
联想：战时敌人抢占(prise)我物，我必回(re)敬一击——reprisal就是报复。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：military conflict、international relations、formal writing reprisal 通常用于正式语体，多用于描述战争或国际关系中的报复行为，比较常见于新闻或书面表达；日常口语中较少使用，口语中更常说 revenge 或 payback。
Pronunciation & Spelling
All six end in the same spelling '-sal', but none rhymes with reprisal /rɪˈpraɪzəl/. Appraisal, proposal, and refusal end in /zəl/, while dispersal, rehearsal, and reversal end in /səl/. The stressed vowel in each of these words is different from the /aɪ/ in reprisal, so they are lookalikes, not rhymes.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.