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   Re·tort

   /rəˈtôrt/

   

   verb

   • 1. say something in answer to a remark or accusation, typically in a sharp, angry, or wittily incisive manner: "“No need to be rude,” retorted Isabel"
   • 2. repay (an insult or injury): archaic "it was now his time to retort the humiliation"
   • ▪ turn (an insult or accusation) back on the person who has issued it: "he was resolute to retort the charge of treason on his foes"
   • ▪ use (an opponent's argument) against them: "the answer they make to us may very easily be retorted"

   noun

   • 1. a sharp, angry, or wittily incisive reply to a remark: "she opened her mouth to make a suitably cutting retort"

   Word Origin late 15th century (in the sense ‘hurl back an accusation or insult’): from Latin retort- ‘twisted back, cast back’, from the verb retorquere, from re- ‘in return’ + torquere ‘to twist’.

   Scrabble Points: 6

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