tit-for-tat

See also: tit for tat

English

Etymology

From tit for tat.

Adjective

tit-for-tat (not comparable)

1. Having the characteristic of returning bad for bad.

   Unfortunately, many adults retain a tit-for-tat attitude, but in a more refined way than the simple, childish shove for shove.

   • 2007 June 22, The Guardian, London:

     Amid fears that the end to more than five and a half years of talks would lead to a new era of tit-for-tat protectionism, negotiations between the United States and the European Union broke down.

   • 2022 May 8, Katie Lobosco, “Trump’s trade war looms over soybean farmers 4 years later”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     It’s been nearly four years since China put tariffs on American-grown soybeans during a tit-for-tat trade war with then-President Donald Trump – and they remain in place despite the change in administrations.