I heard him retorting, as he assisted me to doff my doublet.
The result of the "clean up" and retorting was $1,000 worth of shining gold.
Then, he was trying not to be too contentious, but was irritated into retorting.
The Monk did not fall into the jocular trap by retorting in the same strain.
She was on the verge of retorting to him, but she restrained herself.
Sometimes the miner will be troubled with impure gold after retorting.
"And we were just talking of you," Farnham annoyed me by retorting.
Carol was retorting, "But a maid does it for strangers, and all she gets out of it is the pay——"
Slowly a more vigorous pulse is stirred, in an interlude of retorting trumpets.
In talking over the events of the day, he bade his clerks beware of retorting on their enemies the abuse that was poured on them.
1550s, "make return in kind" (especially of an injury), from Old French retort and directly from Latin retortus, past participle of retorquere "turn back, twist back, throw back," from re- "back" (see re-) + torquere "to twist" (see thwart). Applied to exchanges of jest or sarcasm by c.1600, hence "say or utter sharply and aggressively in reply" (1620s). Related: Retorted; retorting.
"act of retorting," c.1600, from retort (v.).
"vessel used in chemistry for distilling or effecting decomposition by the aid of heat," c.1600, from Middle French retorte, from Medieval Latin *retorta "a retort, a vessel with a bent neck," literally "a thing bent or twisted," from past participle stem of Latin retorquere (see retort (v.)).
retort re·tort (rĭ-tôrt', rē'tôrt')
n.
A closed laboratory vessel with an outlet tube, used for distillation, sublimation, or decomposition by heat.
