settle scores
Pay someone back
To settle scores is to get revenge or retaliate for past wrongs.
The image comes from balancing accounts—evening things up after being wronged: He waited years to settle scores with the men who betrayed him.
Often appears as settle old scores, emphasizing grievances nursed over time.
The phrase can describe personal vendettas or broader conflicts where parties seek payback.
- revengePunishing a wrongdoer
- vendettaProlonged retaliatory conflict
- paybackRetaliation for wrongs
- get evenExact reciprocal harm
- grudgePersistent resentment toward someone
axe to grind · retaliation · eye for an eye · avenge · even · bitter · bad blood · feud · enemy · confront · reckoning · justice · long time coming · debt · retribution · showdown · day of reckoning · adversary
- resentmentresentful, grudge, bitterness, rancor, spite
settle scoresforgive
Cease to blame
forgive and forget · turn the other cheek · let bygones be bygones · pardon · absolve
settle scoresmake peace
Resolve conflict between parties
reconcile · bury the hatchet · make amends · mend fences · patch things up
settle scoreslet go
Cease holding something
move on · let bygones be bygones · drop it · water under the bridge · rise above
settle, scores, settled, settling, settler, settlers, settlement, settlements, settles