ret·ri·bu·tion /ˌrɛtrəˈbjuʃən/
 報應,懲罰,報復


 Ret·ri·bu·tion n.
 1. The act of retributing; repayment.
    In good offices and due retributions, we may not be pinching and niggardly.   --Bp. Hall.
 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.
 All who have their reward on earth, . . .
 Naught seeking but the praise of men, here find
 Fit retribution, empty as their deeds.   --Milton.
 3. Specifically, reward and punishment, as distributed at the general judgment.
    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.
 Syn: -- Repayment; requital; recompense; payment; retaliation.

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 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]