[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

retribution \ret`ribu"tion\, n. l. retributio: cf. f.
   r'etribution.
   1. the act of retributing; repayment.
      1913 webster

            in good offices and due retributions, we may not be
            pinching and niggardly.               --bp. hall.
      1913 webster

   2. that which is given in repayment or compensation; return
      suitable to the merits or deserts of, as an action;
      commonly, condign punishment for evil or wrong.
      1913 webster

            all who have their reward on earth, . . .
            naught seeking but the praise of men, here find
            fit retribution, empty as their deeds. --milton.
      1913 webster

   3. specifically, reward and punishment, as distributed at the
      general judgment.
      1913 webster

            it is a strong argument for a state of retribution
            hereafter, that in this world virtuous persons are
            very often unfortunate, and vicious persons
            prosperous.                           --addison.
      1913 webster

   syn: repayment; requital; recompense; payment; retaliation.
        1913 webster retributive

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

retribution
     n 1: a justly deserved penalty syn: requital
     2: the act of correcting for your wrongdoing
     3: the act of taking revenge harming someone in retaliation
        for something harmful that they have done especially in
        the next life; "vengeance is mine; i will repay, saith the
        lord"--romans 12:19; "for vengeance i would do nothing.
        this nation is too great to look for mere revenge"--james
        garfield; "he swore vengeance on the man who betrayed
        him"; "the swiftness of divine retribution" syn: vengeance,
         payback
see also:
requital vengeance payback 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

78 moby thesaurus words for "retribution":
   affliction, amends, atonement, avengement, avenging, blood money,
   castigation, chastening, chastisement, comeuppance, compensation,
   condign punishment, consideration, correction, counterblow,
   damages, desert, deserts, disciplinary measures, discipline,
   ferule, guerdon, honorarium, indemnification, indemnity,
   infliction, judgment, judicial punishment, just deserts, justice,
   making good, meed, nemesis, pains, pains and punishments, pay,
   paying back, payment, penal retribution, penalty, penology, price,
   punishment, punition, quid pro quo, quittance, recompense, redress,
   refund, reimbursement, remuneration, reparation, repayment,
   reprisal, requital, requitement, restitution, retaliation,
   retributive justice, return, revanche, revenge, reward, salvage,
   satisfaction, scourge, smart money, solatium, squaring, trial,
   tribulation, vengeance, visitation, well-deserved punishment,
   wergild, what is due, what is merited, what-for

[4] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

retribution. 1. that which is given to another to recompense him for what 
has been received from him; as a rent for the hire of a house. 2. a salary 
paid to a person for his services. 3. the distribution of rewards and 
punishments. 

[5] : THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)

retribution, n.  a rain of fire-and-brimstone that falls alike upon
the just and such of the unjust as have not procured shelter by
evicting them.
    in the lines following, addressed to an emperor in exile by father
gassalasca jape, the reverend poet appears to hint his sense of the
improduence of turning about to face retribution when it is talking
exercise:

    what, what dom pedro, you desire to go
        back to brazil to end your days in quiet?
    why, what assurance have you 'twould be so?
        'tis not so long since you were in a riot,
        and your dear subjects showed a will to fly at
    your throat and shake you like a rat.  you know
    that empires are ungrateful; are you certain
    republics are less handy to get hurt in?

Retribution >> R Words
Retribution, definition of term: Retribution
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