retort

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈtɔɹt/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈtɔːt/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t
• Hyphenation: re‧tort

Etymology 1

Borrowing from Latin retortus, from retorquere (“to be forced to twist back”).

Noun

retort (plural retorts)

1. A sharp or witty reply, or one which turns an argument against its originator; a comeback.

Translations

sharp or witty reply

• Armenian: հակաճառություն (hy) (hakačaṙutʿyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 反駁 (zh), 反驳 (zh) (fǎnbó)

• Danish: replik c
• Dutch: scherp antwoord
• Finnish: sivallus
• French: réplique (fr) f, riposte (fr) f, repartie (fr) f
• German: schlagfertige Antwort f, Erwiderung f, Retourkutsche f
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Ido: repliko (io)

• Irish: aisfhreagra m
• Italian: replica (it)
• Japanese: 口答え (kuchigotae)
• Latvian: asa atbilde f
• Maori: kupu paremata
• Polish: riposta (pl) f
• Portuguese: réplica (pt) f
• Spanish: réplica (es) f
• Swedish: replik (sv), genmäle (sv)

Verb

retort (third-person singular simple present retorts, present participle retorting, simple past and past participle retorted)

1. To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Ayrsham Mystery^[1]:

     “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. […]”

2. 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

   • Milton

     And with retorted scorn his back he turned.

3. To bend or curve back.

   a retorted line

   • Southey

     With retorted head, pruned themselves as they floated.

4. To throw back; to reverberate; to reflect.
   • Shakespeare

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

Synonyms

• (sharp reply): comeback, rejoinder, back answer

Translations

To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation

• Armenian: բոցել (hy) (bocʿel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 反駁 (zh), 反驳 (zh) (fǎnbó), 回嘴 (zh) (huízuǐ)

• Finnish: sivaltaa

• Japanese: 口答えする (kuchigotae suru)
• Latvian: asi atbildēt, atcirst
• Polish: ripostować
• Swedish: replikera (sv), genmäla (sv)

to retort; to throw back — see return

Etymology 2

From French retorte.

Retort for distillation

Noun

retort (plural retorts)

1. (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, 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. — Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘The Naval Treaty’ (Norton 2005, p.670)

2. A container in which material is subjected to high temperatures as part of an industrial manufacturing process, especially during the smelting and forging of metal.

Translations

flask used for distillation

• Armenian: թորանոթ (hy) (tʿoranotʿ), թորաման (hy) (tʿoraman)
• Catalan: retorta f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 曲頸甑 (zh), 曲颈甑 (zh) (qū jǐng zèng)

• Czech: křivule f
• Danish: retort (da) c, destillerkolbe c
• Dutch: retort (nl)
• Finnish: retortti (fi)
• French: cornue (fr)
• German: Retorte (de) f
• Ido: retorto (io)

• Italian: storta (it)
• Japanese: レトルト (retoruto)
• Latvian: retorte f
• Polish: retorta (pl) f
• Portuguese: balão (pt) m
• Romanian: retortă (ro)
• Russian: рето́рта (ru) (retórta)
• Serbo-Croatian: retorta (sh)
• Spanish: retorta f
• Swedish: retort (sv)
• Ukrainian: реторта (retorta)

Verb

retort (third-person singular simple present retorts, present participle retorting, simple past and past participle retorted)

1. (transitive) To heat in a retort.

Anagrams

• Rotter, rotter