Idiom
even the score
Meaning
To seek or obtain revenge against someone.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He wants to even the score after losing the game.”
“After she was unfairly fired, she looked for a way to even the score with her former boss.”
“The protagonist spent years plotting his return, determined to even the score with those who had betrayed his family.”
Examples
simple
“He wants to even the score after losing the game.”
contextual
“After she was unfairly fired, she looked for a way to even the score with her former boss.”
complex
“The protagonist spent years plotting his return, determined to even the score with those who had betrayed his family.”
Origin
The term is formed by analogy to scorekeeping in sports, where the accumulation of points determines the standing of competitors. It entered the lexicon as a metaphorical extension of the practice of recording tallies to ensure a state of numerical parity between opposing sides.
Key words
Related idioms
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