RETORT • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Retort

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/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.

See images of 'Retort'

Etymology of 'Retort'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Retort" Quotes from Famous Books

... time the rough joke of some passing wit interrupted the song. Then the reservists would break out into a loud laugh and call back some still more spicy retort. But they always took up their jingling refrain, repeating the childish words again and again, and jogging along clumsily, keeping ...

— 'Jena' or 'Sedan'? • Franz Beyerlein

... up his pen and wrote the retort which shook the old State from mountain to sea, and which enhanced the chances of the white supremacy advocates who were then planning for an uprising in November. "Punish sin because it is sin," concluded the editor, "and ...

— Hanover; Or The Persecution of the Lowly - A Story of the Wilmington Massacre. • David Bryant Fulton

... on this subject to thee, friend Latimer, who, I doubt not, art trained to believe that courage is displayed and honour attained, not by doing and suffering as becomes a man that which fate calls us to suffer and justice commands us to do, but because thou art ready to retort violence for violence, and considerest the lightest insult as a sufficient cause for the spilling of blood, nay, the taking of life. But, leaving these points of controversy to a more fit season, let us see what our basket of provision contains; for in truth, friend Latimer, ...

— Redgauntlet • Sir Walter Scott

... A hot retort was on my lips, but I had no wish to offend my guest, so I smiled and observed that I had frequently indulged in unconscious ...

— The Enchanted Typewriter • John Kendrick Bangs

... of the philosophers rather chose to retort the injury of a smart reply, than thus to disarm it with respect to themselves. They shew that it stung them, though at the same time they had the address to make their aggressors suffer with them. Of this kind is Aristotle's reply to one who pursued him with long and bitter invectives. ...

— The Young Gentleman and Lady's Monitor, and English Teacher's Assistant • John Hamilton Moore

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