Idiom
in kind
Meaning
In a reciprocal manner; in a similar way; in the same kind.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He was rude, so she replied in kind.”
“If you smile at her, she usually smiles back in kind.”
“They shout at us, and we always shout back in kind.”
“When the competitor lowered their prices, our company decided to respond in kind to keep our customers.”
“After the neighbors helped us move our heavy furniture, we decided to thank them in kind by helping them paint their new fence.”
“The charity prefers cash donations, but they also accept gifts in kind like warm blankets and canned food for the winter.”
“The neighboring nation viewed the military buildup as a direct provocation and felt compelled to respond in kind by increasing its own defensive capabilities.”
Examples
simple
“He was rude, so she replied in kind.”
“If you smile at her, she usually smiles back in kind.”
“They shout at us, and we always shout back in kind.”
contextual
“When the competitor lowered their prices, our company decided to respond in kind to keep our customers.”
“After the neighbors helped us move our heavy furniture, we decided to thank them in kind by helping them paint their new fence.”
“The charity prefers cash donations, but they also accept gifts in kind like warm blankets and canned food for the winter.”
complex
“The neighboring nation viewed the military buildup as a direct provocation and felt compelled to respond in kind by increasing its own defensive capabilities.”
Origin
The phrase enters English as a calque of the Latin *in specie*, denoting a transaction conducted using the actual goods or services in question rather than a substitute medium such as currency. The Latin *in specie* translates literally as "in appearance" or "in form," providing the basis for the English equivalent.
Key words
Related idioms
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