The retorting speech of such a man may be silvern or iron; his silence, victorious and golden.
She was on the verge of retorting to him, but she restrained herself.
But the widow was not to be caught napping; she could defend herself, parrying and retorting with masterly skill.
Sometimes the miner will be troubled with impure gold after retorting.
Bertha with difficulty abstained from retorting that sometimes she also felt inclined to weep—especially when he sang out of tune.
Carol was retorting, "But a maid does it for strangers, and all she gets out of it is the pay——"
The report that the distinguished pianist-politician is thinking of retorting with a fugue, "Stiltonia," is not confirmed.
The retorting has usually been badly done, and there remains a good deal of quicksilver and nitric acid adhering to the gold.
The Monk did not fall into the jocular trap by retorting in the same strain.
Instead of retorting, the child looked with sudden anxiety into the countenance of her companion.
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.
