From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishretortre‧tort1 /rɪˈtɔːt $ -ɔːrt/ ●○○ verb [transitive] ANSWER/REPLYto reply quickly, in an angry or humorous way ‘It’s all your fault!’ he retorted.► see thesaurus at answer→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
retort• Not that there was anything to retort.• "You're not afraid?" Brenda asked. "Of course not, " he retorted angrily.• Well then, retorted her amused audience: you had better find it out hadn't you?• "Nonsense, " retorted Simpson.• But women retorted that, first, the decision to have children or not was a joint decision with a man.• Republicans retorted that the amendment is necessary to balance the budget.retortretort2 noun [countable] 1 ANSWER/REPLYa short angry or humorous reply He was about to make a sharp retort.2 HCa bottle with a long narrow bent neck, used for heating chemicalsExamples from the Corpus
retort• Every time the child makes demands the parent provides a retort and opens up the possibility of more interaction about the demand.• But at least it warranted a retort.• Ellie's angry retort surprised Max.• She snapped out careless retorts and soared in brief Puccinian reminiscences with equal ease.• She could never think of a clever retort to counter Ben's string of jokes and witticisms.• Damn these clothes, Hope thought; dressed as he was, an irritable retort became a threatening social punishment.• She's always ready with a quick retort.• The teacher's demonstration might be countered by the retort that other things besides chalk leave white traces on a blackboard.• The retort made the boy fold up his clipping pretty quick.• You will also need to keep your retort to yourself - even if the person deserves a sharp wood.Origin retort1 (1400-1500) Latin past participle of retorquere “to twist back, throw back”, from torquere “to twist” retort2 1. (1500-1600) → RETORT12. (1600-1700) French retorte, from Latin retorquere ( → RETORT1); because of its bent shape 