rejoinders

Noun

rejoinder (plural rejoinders)

1. The defendant's answer to the replication.
2. A response that answers another response.
   • "76. ... P-R8(N) mate! Certainly not 76... P-R8(Q), though threatening mate on the move in seven different ways--as 77 Q-N5 mate would have been the painful rejoinder."1953 March, Irving Chernev, “Chernev's Chess Corner”, in Chess Review
3. A quick response that involves disagreement or is witty, especially an answer to a question.
   • I have passed perhaps more time than any other man of my age and country in visits and assemblies, where the polite persons of both sexes distinguish themselves; and could not without much grief observe how frequently both gentlemen and ladies are at a loss for questions, answers, replies, and...1731 (date written), Simon Wagstaff [pseudonym; Jonathan Swift], “An Introduction to the Following Treatise”, in A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, […], London: […]...

   Synonyms:

   comeback, retort

4. (US) Re-insertion, typically after allowance of a patent application, of patent claims that had been withdrawn from examination under a restriction requirement.

See all 6 meanings of rejoinder