counterblow

noun

coun·​ter·​blow ˌkau̇n-tər-ˈblō 

variants or counter-blow

plural counterblows or counter-blows

: an action taken in reprisal : a return blow : retaliation

… US policy makers who could go forward in the East without much fear of a Soviet counterblow in the West.

—Charles Wheeler

Word History

First Known Use

1655, in the meaning defined above