retribution
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ret·ri·bu·tion
(rĕt′rə-byo͞o′shən)retribution
(ˌrɛtrɪˈbjuːʃən)ret•ri•bu•tion
(ˌrɛ trəˈbyu ʃən)n.
Retribution
(See also RETALIATION.)
chickens come home to roost An expression indicating that one has received his just deserts or met with a comeuppance. Robert Southey makes reference to this proverbial expression in The Curse of Kehama (1810):
Curses are like young chickens: they always come home to roost.
have the last laugh See SUCCESS.
laugh on the other side of one’s face or mouth To experience a comedown or to undergo a radical change in mood from happiness to sadness, usually as a result of meeting one’s comeuppance; to be sad, disappointed, or depressed; to fail after expecting or experiencing success, with the implication that such failure is deserved. Though the derivation of this expression is uncertain, it may refer to the fact that in a frown, the lips are turned down rather than up as in a smile.
We were made to laugh on the other side of our mouth by an unforeseen occurrence. (Benjamin Malkin, LeSage’s Adventures of Gil Bias of Santillane, 1809)
A variation is laugh on the wrong side of one’s face or mouth.
the mills of God grind slowly Retribution may be slow in coming, but justice will eventually triumph; sooner or later everyone will get what he deserves. This expression, a variant of which dates from the early 17th century, applies the metaphor of a mill grinding grain to the meting out of justice by the Almighty. The phrase appeared in the poem Retribution by Henry Wads-worth Longfellow:
Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small;
Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all.
the shoe is on the other foot See REVERSAL.
| Noun | 1. | retribution - a justly deserved penalty penalty - a payment required for not fulfilling a contract |
| 2. | retribution - the act of correcting for your wrongdoing correction, rectification - the act of offering an improvement to replace a mistake; setting right | |
| 3. |  retribution - 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"retaliation, revenge - action taken in return for an injury or offense |
retribution
"Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small;"
"Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all" [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Retribution]