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Retort   /rˈitˌɔrt/   Listen
noun
Retort  n.  
1.
The return of, or reply to, an argument, charge, censure, incivility, taunt, or witticism; a quick and witty or severe response. "This is called the retort courteous."
2.
(Chem. & the Arts) A vessel in which substances are subjected to distillation or decomposition by heat. It is made of different forms and materials for different uses, as a bulb of glass with a curved beak to enter a receiver for general chemical operations, or a cylinder or semicylinder of cast iron for the manufacture of gas in gas works.
Tubulated retort (Chem.), a retort having a tubulure for the introduction or removal of the substances which are to be acted upon.
Synonyms: Repartee; answer. Retort, Repartee. A retort is a short and pointed reply, turning back on an assailant the arguments, censure, or derision he had thrown out. A repartee is usually a good-natured return to some witty or sportive remark.


verb
Retort  v. t.  (past & past part. retorted; pres. part. retorting)  
1.
To bend or curve back; as, a retorted line. "With retorted head, pruned themselves as they floated."
2.
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."
3.
To return, as an argument, accusation, censure, or incivility; as, to retort the charge of vanity. "And with retorted scorn his back he turned."


Retort  v. i.  To return an argument or a charge; to make a severe reply.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Retort" Quotes from Famous Books



... not.' Here the dirty-faced man fell into ecstasies of mirth at his own retort, in which he was joined by a man of bland voice and placid countenance, who always made it a point ...
— The Pickwick Papers • Charles Dickens
... Ward's enigmatic retort, and though I begged an explanation I got none. Instead, she quickened the horse's gait ...
— The Guest of Quesnay • Booth Tarkington
... Jerusalem. Had I been supported with zeal, the holy city would have been ours; but the apathy, the folly, and the weakness of the leaders brought ruin upon the army. They thought not of conquering Jerusalem, but of thwarting me; and I retort upon them the charge of having sacrificed the success of the Crusade. As to the terms of peace, how were they made? I, with some fifty knights and one thousand followers, alone remained in the Holy Land. Who else, I ask, so circumstanced, ...
— The Boy Knight • G.A. Henty
... retort almost before he had finished it, and rose to his feet with a faint cry of alarm as the heated Mr. Cox first locked the door and put the key in his pocket and then threw up ...
— Light Freights • W. W. Jacobs
... Kirsty, and was about to give a sharp retort, but checked herself, saying, "Aren't they in bed ...
— Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood • George MacDonald


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