From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhit back phrasal verbATTACKto attack or criticize a person or group that has attacked or criticized you SYN retaliate at The actress hit back at claims that she had threatened a member of staff. with United were a goal down, but hit back with an equalizer.hit back by doing something He hit back by calling his critics ‘lazy’. → hit→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
hit back• Southampton should have hit back after 28 minutes when Carl Tiler pulled down Nicky Banger.• They twice hit back and were sufficiently in charge of the second half to have nicked the much-needed points themselves.• And next month the port's owners, Sealink, will hit back by launching their fast Sealynx service.• Lotus, the great innovator, is hitting back with technology, rather than marketing.hit back by doing something• And next month the port's owners, Sealink, will hit back by launching their fast Sealynx service.• But Brook supporters have decided to hit back by staging their own demonstration to support the centre's work.• But the magazine hit back by producing a picture of Mrs Barantes with one of their journalists.• The parliamentarians hit back by accusing Mr Obasanjo of overstepping his powers and showing dictatorial tendencies. 