# retort
## English
### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ɹɪˈtɔɹt/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɹɪˈtɔːt/
* Audio (UK):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)t
* Hyphenation: re‧tort

### Etymology 1

From Middle English retorte, 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
#### 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.
** 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Ayrsham Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:“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. […]”
* 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], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC: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: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, [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

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

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From French retorte.

#### 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.
    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.
* 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.
* A crematory furnace.

##### Derived terms

* retort curry
* retort food
* retort pouch
* retort processing
* retort stand

##### Translations
#### 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

## Catalan
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin retortus, past participle of retorqueō (“I twist”). Doublet of redort.

### Adjective

retort (feminine retorta, masculine plural retorts, feminine plural retortes)
* devious
* twisted

### Noun

retort m (plural retorts)
* twilled yarn

#### Related terms

* retòrcer
* retorquir
* retorta
* tort

### Further reading

* “retort”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French retorte, from Latin retorta.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /rəˈtɔrt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: re‧tort
* Rhymes: -ɔrt

### Noun

retort f or n (plural retorten)
* (chemistry) retort (flask used for distillation)