Retort

v. t. [imp. & p. p. RETORTED; p. pr. & vb. n. RETORTING.] [Lat. retorquere, retortum, from re, again, back, and torquere, to turn, twist; Fr. rétorquer, Sp. retorcer, It. ritorcere.]

1Sense 1. To bend or curve back; as, a retorted line.

Sometimes rose half up, shaking and clapping their wings; sometimes, with retorted head, pruned themselves as they floated. Southey.

2Sense 2. To throw back; to reverberate.

As when his virtues, shining upon others, Heat them, and they retort that heat again To the first giver. Shak.

3Sense 3. To return, as an argument, accusation, censure, or incivility; as, to retort the charge of vanity.

n. 1. The return of an argument, charge, or incivility in reply; a quick and witty response. This is called the retort courteous. Shak.

2Sense 2. [Fr. retorte, Sp. retorta, from Lat. retortus, p. p. of retorquere. See supra.] (Chem. and the Arts.) A vessel in which substances are subjected to distillation or decomposition by heat, 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 semi-cylinder of cast iron for the manufacture of gas in gas-works.

Synonyms— Repartee; answer. — RETORT, REPARTEE. A retort is a short and pointed reply, turning back on an assailant the censures or derision he had thrown out. A repartee is usually a good-natured return to some witty or sportive observation of another, in which “diamond cuts diamond” without any loss of good-humor on either side.

He passed through hostile scorn, And with retorted scorn his back he turned. Milton.

A man renowned for repartee Will seldom scruple to make free With friendship’s finest feelings. Cooper.