retorting

Verb (1)

retort (third-person singular simple present retorts, present participle retorting, simple past and past participle retorted)

1. To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation.
   • “It is a pity,” he retorted with aggravating meekness, “that they do not use a little common sense. The case resembles that of Columbus' egg, and is every bit as simple.[…]”1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Ayrsham Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London...

   Synonyms:

   comeback, rejoinder, back answer

2. To make a remark which reverses an argument upon its originator; to return, as an argument, accusation, censure, or incivility.
   • to retort the charge of vanity
3. To bend or curve back.
   • a retorted line
4. To throw back; to reverberate; to reflect.
   • As when his virtues, shining upon others, / Heat them and they retort that heat again / To the first giver.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Verb (2)

retort (third-person singular simple present retorts, present participle retorting, simple past and past participle retorted)

1. (transitive) To heat in a retort.

See all 10 meanings of retort