How to Use reprisal in a Sentence

reprisal

noun
  • The hostages were taken in reprisal for the bombing.
  • The allies threatened economic reprisals against the invading country.
  • Enemy officers suffered harsh reprisals.
  • The cousin asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal.
    Joseph Krauss, ajc, 1 Feb. 2022
  • The toys’ reprisal comes after more than 25 years off the market.
    Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 21 Dec. 2023
  • In reprisal, Hamas fired rockets at the city for the first time in seven years.
    Jonah E. Bromwich, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2023
  • Three judges have stepped down from the case amid fears of reprisals, and a fourth one was dismissed.
    Doha Madani, NBC News, 15 Feb. 2023
  • To affirm a just cause for Putin’s reprisals, the regime needs to repress the record of Stalin’s.
    Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 22 Aug. 2023
  • Both women gave just their first name for fear of reprisals.
    Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Julio Urías is plotting his own reprisal of a strong 2021.
    Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2022
  • The 39-year-old asked not to be identified by his full name for fear of reprisal.
    Hanna Arhirova, Anchorage Daily News, 5 Oct. 2022
  • All asked not to be identified by name due to fears of reprisal.
    Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 23 Oct. 2023
  • The president's threat is a reprisal of a stance he's made known in recent weeks.
    Mike Brest, Washington Examiner, 1 July 2020
  • And regardless of whether the mom didn’t want to, perhaps fearing the dad’s reprisal.
    George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2022
  • The person did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal.
    Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 15 Oct. 2020
  • All spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
    Nick Penzenstadler, USA TODAY, 6 May 2021
  • Lena, who gave only her first name for fear of reprisal, started to cry.
    Valerie Hopkins, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2024
  • Will the star of the original production make a reprisal in the movie version?
    Nick Romano, EW.com, 25 June 2020
  • Medhat, like many who spoke to CNN, didn't want his name published for fear of reprisal.
    Lina El Wardani, CNN, 29 Mar. 2021
  • In reprisal airstrikes, the Israel military has killed over 800 Gazans.
    Maha Nassar, Fortune, 10 Oct. 2023
  • The rhetoric has only grown more heated since, with reports that some sort of reprisal may come in the next three weeks.
    Andy Greenberg, Wired, 8 Mar. 2021
  • Israeli reprisals have killed more than 400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
    Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, 9 Oct. 2023
  • In Afghanistan, the Taliban promised not to exact reprisal from people who have opposed the group’s takeover.
    Daric L. Cottingham, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2021
  • The small group of Chinese Catholics who crossed the border to see Pope Francis covered their faces for fear of reprisal.
    Jason Horowitz, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2023
  • Many declined to speak on the record, for fear of reprisal or ridicule from employers or social groups.
    Amy Harmon, New York Times, 26 Dec. 2022
  • At the time, analysts warned that the U.S. strike was likely to incur reprisal attacks.
    Yeganeh Torbati, Washington Post, 1 Dec. 2022
  • Many Dachang residents, like Pan, declined to give their full names for fear of reprisal.
    Anchorage Daily News, 30 Dec. 2019
  • The agencies went further, vowing future reprisals should the firms not heed the warning.
    Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, 9 Mar. 2020
  • Now the entire Middle East is on edge, expecting an Israeli reprisal.
    Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, 3 Oct. 2024
  • In the wake of the July uprising, practically all the senior party leaders fled the country, leaving the rank and file to suffer reprisals.
    Charlie Campbell, TIME, 3 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reprisal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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