retort
English
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈtɔɹt/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈtɔːt/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t
- Hyphenation: re‧tort
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin retortus, from retorquēre (“to be forced to twist back”).
Noun
retort (plural retorts)
- A sharp or witty reply, or one which turns an argument against its originator; a comeback.
Translations
sharp or witty reply
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Verb
retort (third-person singular simple present retorts, present participle retorting, simple past and past participle retorted)
- To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation.
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Ayrsham Mystery:
- “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. […]”
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- 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
- 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- And with retorted scorn his back he turned.
- To bend or curve back.
- a retorted line
- 1829, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Sir Thomas More: or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], OCLC 460415626:
- With retorted head, pruned themselves as they floated.
- To throw back; to reverberate; to reflect.
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iii]:
- As when his virtues, shining upon others, / Heat them and they retort that heat again / To the first giver.
- 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, Sydney: Ure Smith, published 1962, OCLC 751607287, page 162:
- Glasses were filled, arresting the trooper on a theme of passion; the pariahdom of the country cop, whose self-respect is to retort the law's blackmail for blackmail levied on his self-respect.
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Synonyms
- (sharp reply): comeback, rejoinder, back answer
Translations
To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation
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to retort; to throw back — see return
Etymology 2
From French retorte.
Retort for distillation
Noun
retort (plural retorts)
- (chemistry) A flask with a rounded base and a long neck that is bent down and tapered, used to heat a liquid for distillation.
- 1893, Conan Doyle, Arthur, The Naval Treaty, Norton, page 670:
- A large curved retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre measure.
- An airtight vessel in which material is subjected to high temperatures in the chemical industry or as part of an industrial manufacturing process, especially during the smelting and forging of metal.
- A pressure cooker.
- March 1920, Alice Ballantine Kirjassoff, “FORMOSA THE BEAUTIFUL”, in National Geographic Magazine, page 268:
- The retort is above boiling water. Beneath is a furnace. To the right a man is removing the chips from which the camphor has been extracted.
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- A crematory furnace.
Derived terms
- retort stand
Translations
flask used for distillation
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an airtight vessel
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Verb
retort (third-person singular simple present retorts, present participle retorting, simple past and past participle retorted)
- (transitive) To heat in a retort.
Further reading
Retort in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
Retort on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- Rotert, Rotter, rotter
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French retorte, from Latin retorta.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /rəˈtɔrt/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: re‧tort
- Rhymes: -ɔrt
Noun
retort f or n (plural retorten)
- (chemistry) retort (flask used for distillation)