retort
verb/rɪˈtɔːt/
/rɪˈtɔːrt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they retort | /rɪˈtɔːt/ /rɪˈtɔːrt/ |
| he / she / it retorts | /rɪˈtɔːts/ /rɪˈtɔːrts/ |
| past simple retorted | /rɪˈtɔːtɪd/ /rɪˈtɔːrtɪd/ |
| past participle retorted | /rɪˈtɔːtɪd/ /rɪˈtɔːrtɪd/ |
| -ing form retorting | /rɪˈtɔːtɪŋ/ /rɪˈtɔːrtɪŋ/ |
- to reply quickly to a comment, in an angry, offended or humorous way
- + speech ‘Don't be ridiculous!’ Pat retorted angrily.
- She quickly retorted, ‘What does it matter?’
- retort that… Sam retorted that it was my fault as much as his.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- quickly
- angrily
- furiously
- …
Word Originverb late 15th cent. (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’.
Check pronunciation:
retort