aven

a. [ L. avenaceus, fr. avena oats. ] Belonging to, or resembling, oats or the oat grasses. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. avenage, fr. L. avena oats. ] (Old Law) A quantity of oats paid by a tenant to a landlord in lieu of rent. Jacob. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. avena eats. ] (Chem.) A crystalline globulin, contained in oat kernels, very similar in composition to excelsin, but different in reactions and crystalline form. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OF. avenier, fr. aveine, avaine, avoine, oats, F. avoine, L. avena. ] (Feud. Law) An officer of the king's stables whose duty it was to provide oats for the horses. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To take vengeance. Levit. xix. 18. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Avenged (&unr_;); p. pr. & vb. n. Avenging (&unr_;). ] [ OF. avengier; L. ad + vindicare to lay claim to, to avenge, revenge. See Vengeance. ] 1. To take vengeance for; to exact satisfaction for by punishing the injuring party; to vindicate by inflicting pain or evil on a wrongdoer. [ 1913 Webster ]

He will avenge the blood of his servants. Deut. xxxii. 43. [ 1913 Webster ]

Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had avenged himself on them by havoc such as England had never before seen. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To treat revengefully; to wreak vengeance on. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy judgment in avenging thine enemies. Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To Avenge, Revenge. To avenge is to inflict punishment upon evil doers in behalf of ourselves, or others for whom we act; as, to avenge one's wrongs; to avenge the injuries of the suffering and innocent. It is to inflict pain for the sake of vindication, or retributive justice. To revenge is to inflict pain or injury for the indulgence of resentful and malicious feelings. The former may at times be a duty; the latter is one of the worst exhibitions of human character. [ 1913 Webster ]

I avenge myself upon another, or I avenge another, or I avenge a wrong. I revenge only myself, and that upon another. C. J. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Vengeance; revenge. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Vengeance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]