Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

retortion

American  
[ri-tawr-shuhn] / rɪˈtɔr ʃən /

noun

  1. the act of turning or bending back.

  2. retaliation.

  3. International Law. retorsion.

retortion British  
/ rɪˈtɔːʃən /

noun

  1. the act of retorting

  2. a variant spelling of retorsion

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of retortion

1585–95; < Medieval Latin retortiōn- (stem of retortiō ), equivalent to Latin retort ( us ) ( retort 1 ) + -iōn- -ion

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.