retort

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English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle English retorte, from Latin retortus, from retorquēre (“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

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.
  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
  3. 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. , volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, , →OCLC:
      With retorted head, pruned themselves as they floated.
  4. 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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [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, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, 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.
Synonyms
Translations
to retort; to throw back — see return

Etymology 2

From French retorte.

Retort for distillation

Noun

retort (plural retorts)

  2. (chemistry) A flask with a rounded base and a long neck that is bent down and tapered, used to heat a liquid for distillation.
    Hyponym: pelican
    • 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. A crematory furnace.
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To heat in a retort.

Further reading

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French retorte, from Latin retorta.

Pronunciation

Noun

retort f or n (plural retorten)

  1. (chemistry) retort (flask used for distillation)
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