retaliate: intransitive verb to return like for like especially: to get revenge transitive verb to repay in kind retaliate an injury Words have dictionary

retaliate: intransitive verb to return like for like especially: to get revenge transitive verb to repay in kind retaliate an injury Words have dictionary definitions, legal definitions, and connotations (note: the especially). Your usage above is consistent with both the dictionary and legal definitions of retaliate, but would be confusing to most English speakers because of the connotations.