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Glite Dictionary
to give as good as someone gets

to give as good as someone gets

3 7.2
Respond to an attack or criticism with equal force
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : devolver lo mismo
  • In their friendly rivalry, he always managed to give as good as he got.

Examples

  • You give as good as you get with her.

    Blog text (18)

  • During the debate, she was assertive and gave as good as she got.

  • l mean, she gives as good as she gets.

    Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)

  • He gave as good as he got.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • As this list shows, the Cupertino giant gives as good as it gets.

    Blog text (18)

  • Though the colonists gave as good as they got in this fracas, they had had enough of it and were now unanimous in feeling that their new governments should have something more than tradition to limit and guide them.

    Academic text (2016)

  • I was just giving as good as I get; I did get it, but I guess we both end up feeling misunderstood. Body language, being an essential ingredient of subtle humor, is sorely missed in these situations.

    Blog text (10)

  • I was just giving as good as I get; I did get it, but I guess we both end up feeling misunderstood. Body language, being an essential ingredient of subtle humor, is sorely missed in these situations.

    Blog text (10)

  • Korra, Lin, and Asami have all had various male characters trying to seriously hurt them, but being in a world of badass, they can give as good as they get.

    Blog text (10)

  • You've given as good as you got, and you've stuck around even when the owner of the blog made it quite clear that you and your derailing were unwelcome.

    Blog text (7)

Synonyms

to get even
vsto give as good as someone gets
  • Informal
46 5.4

To do something to hurt someone because they hurt you

responds by matching intensity rather than aiming only to settle a score
to reciprocate
vsto give as good as someone gets
29 6.2

Do something similar in return when someone helps or is kind to you

responds by matching forceful intensity in conflict rather than general reciprocity
to pay back
vsto give as good as someone gets
  • Informal
9 3.2

Do something to someone to hurt them for what they did

responds by matching force or skill rather than merely seeking revenge
to give as good as one gets
vsto give as good as someone gets
  • Informal
3 7.4

To respond equally strongly when someone attacks or criticizes you

uses a personal pronoun instead of the impersonal short form
to pay (someone) back in (their) own coin
vsto give as good as someone gets
  • Informal
8.3

Treat someone in the same bad way they treated you

responds by matching intensity rather than only seeking revenge

Antonyms

to retreat
235 4.0

To move back from a place or plan to avoid danger

to submit
187 4.1

To accept another person's control, often against your wishes

How Forceful

to escalate
220 5.5
to retaliate
105 7.3
to give as good as someone gets
  • Informal
3 7.2
to stand up
293 3.2
to answer
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

give as good as someone gets infinitive

Morphology

give + as + good + as + someone + get

The components ('give', 'as good as', 'someone', 'gets') are partly compositional: the comparative structure suggests giving back something equal to what one receives. However the pragmatic sense of matching someone's force or aggression (retaliating or standing up to someone) is an idiomatic extension and not fully predictable from the words alone, so a B1 learner may not infer the exact conversational nuance without exposure.

Etymology

The phrase give as good as someone gets comes from the image of a fight or argument: if someone hits or insults you, you can give one back that is just as strong as the one you get. So it means 'to respond with the same strength or force'.