Reciprocate

 WORD OF THE DAY

reciprocate / verb / rih-SIP-ruh-kay

Definition
1: to give and take mutually
2: to return in kind or degree
3: to make a return for something
4: to move forward and backward alternately

Examples
"'Our coaches are the type of people you want to play for,' [Brooklyn] Meyer added. 'Like Coach [Ryan] Brasser said in the locker room, the West Lyon girls basketball team isn't just this year's team. It's also past teams and teams in the future.' Brasser reciprocated the compliment, saying that every girl was a quality person, an excellent person and then a good basketball player."
— Zach James, The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal, 3 Mar. 2022

Thus expressing himself, the little lawyer gave Mr. Winkle a poke in the chest, which that gentleman reciprocated; after which they both laughed very loudly …
— Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers, 1837

Did You Know?
Reciprocate, retaliate, requite, and return all mean "to give back," usually in kind or in quantity.
Reciprocate implies a mutual or equivalent exchange or a paying back of what one has received ("We reciprocated their hospitality by inviting them to our beach house").
Retaliate usually implies a paying back of an injury or offense in exact kind, often vengefully ("She retaliated by spreading equally nasty rumors about them").
Requite implies a paying back according to one's preference, and often not in an equivalent fashion ("He requited her love with cold indifference"). Return implies simply a paying or giving back ("returned their call" or "return good for evil").