See a Roland for an Oliver on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From the stories of Roland and Oliver, legendary knights of equal might.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "Rolands for Olivers",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "Rolands for Olivers"
},
"expansion": "a Roland for an Oliver (plural Rolands for Olivers)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1825, William Hazlitt, “Mr. Malthus”, in The Spirit of the Age […] , London: Printed for Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:",
"text": "Mr. Godwin has lately attempted an answer to the Essay (thus giving Mr. Malthus a Roland for his Oliver) but we think he has judged ill in endeavouring to invalidate the principle, instead of confining himself to point out the misapplication of it.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1878, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Crabbed Age and Youth”, in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1881, →OCLC, page 92:",
"text": "It is held to be a good taunt, and somehow or other to clinch the question logically, when an old gentleman waggles his head and says: \"Ah, so I thought when I was your age.\" It is not thought an answer at all, if the young man retorts: \"My venerable sir, so I shall most probably think when I am yours.\" And yet the one is as good as the other: pass for pass, tit for tat, a Roland for an Oliver.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XL, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:",
"text": "I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing. What he said had a hateful truth in it, and another defect of my character is that I enjoy the company of those, however depraved, who can give me a Roland for my Oliver.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Equal measure; measure for measure; adequate response."
],
"id": "en-a_Roland_for_an_Oliver-en-noun-hv9l2E4M",
"links": [
[
"Equal",
"equal"
],
[
"measure for measure",
"measure for measure"
],
[
"adequate",
"adequate"
],
[
"response",
"response"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Equal measure; measure for measure; adequate response."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "eye for an eye"
},
{
"word": "tit for tat"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"word": "a Roland for an Oliver"
}
{
"etymology_text": "From the stories of Roland and Oliver, legendary knights of equal might.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "a Roland for an Oliver (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "90 10",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
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"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "90 10",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "95 5",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "He responded to the insult a Roland for an Oliver, striking back just as hard."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Used to indicate that something is done in a manner that responds to an action with an equivalent action; tit for tat."
],
"id": "en-a_Roland_for_an_Oliver-en-adv-AKEYQvPs",
"links": [
[
"tit for tat",
"tit for tat"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, not comparable) Used to indicate that something is done in a manner that responds to an action with an equivalent action; tit for tat."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"not-comparable"
]
}
],
"word": "a Roland for an Oliver"
}
{
"categories": [
"English adverbs",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English eponyms",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English uncomparable adverbs",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"etymology_text": "From the stories of Roland and Oliver, legendary knights of equal might.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "Rolands for Olivers",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
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"1": "Rolands for Olivers"
},
"expansion": "a Roland for an Oliver (plural Rolands for Olivers)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1825, William Hazlitt, “Mr. Malthus”, in The Spirit of the Age […] , London: Printed for Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:",
"text": "Mr. Godwin has lately attempted an answer to the Essay (thus giving Mr. Malthus a Roland for his Oliver) but we think he has judged ill in endeavouring to invalidate the principle, instead of confining himself to point out the misapplication of it.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1878, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Crabbed Age and Youth”, in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1881, →OCLC, page 92:",
"text": "It is held to be a good taunt, and somehow or other to clinch the question logically, when an old gentleman waggles his head and says: \"Ah, so I thought when I was your age.\" It is not thought an answer at all, if the young man retorts: \"My venerable sir, so I shall most probably think when I am yours.\" And yet the one is as good as the other: pass for pass, tit for tat, a Roland for an Oliver.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XL, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:",
"text": "I had to bite my lip to prevent myself from laughing. What he said had a hateful truth in it, and another defect of my character is that I enjoy the company of those, however depraved, who can give me a Roland for my Oliver.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Equal measure; measure for measure; adequate response."
],
"links": [
[
"Equal",
"equal"
],
[
"measure for measure",
"measure for measure"
],
[
"adequate",
"adequate"
],
[
"response",
"response"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) Equal measure; measure for measure; adequate response."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "eye for an eye"
},
{
"word": "tit for tat"
}
],
"word": "a Roland for an Oliver"
}
{
"categories": [
"English adverbs",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English eponyms",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English uncomparable adverbs",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"etymology_text": "From the stories of Roland and Oliver, legendary knights of equal might.",
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "-"
},
"expansion": "a Roland for an Oliver (not comparable)",
"name": "en-adv"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adv",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English idioms"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "He responded to the insult a Roland for an Oliver, striking back just as hard."
}
],
"glosses": [
"Used to indicate that something is done in a manner that responds to an action with an equivalent action; tit for tat."
],
"links": [
[
"tit for tat",
"tit for tat"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, not comparable) Used to indicate that something is done in a manner that responds to an action with an equivalent action; tit for tat."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"not-comparable"
]
}
],
"word": "a Roland for an Oliver"
}
Download raw JSONL data for a Roland for an Oliver meaning in All languages combined (3.6kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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