RETORT • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Retort

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/rˈitˌɔrt/ Listen

Retort

noun

A quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one). Synonyms: comeback, counter, rejoinder, replication, return, riposte.

A vessel where substances are distilled or decomposed by heat.

verb

(past & past part. retorted; pres. part. retorting)

Answer back. Synonyms: come back, rejoin, repay, return, riposte.

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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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