Retorts

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A sharp and quick reply often intended to counter or challenge a statement can reflect disagreement; a clever response made in a dialogue can also reveal a person's wit; an exchange of pointed remarks can indicate the presence of conflict or challenge in conversation
2. A fast and clever comeback used to counter an argument ; a sealed vessel used to heat substances for distillation in a laboratory
3. An immediate and often humorous answer designed to respond sharply to a comment ; a specialized container employed in chemical processes to separate liquids by boiling

Etymology: "Retorts" is the plural of "retort," and the two senses of the noun share a single origin: both come from the Latin "retortus," the past participle of "retorquēre," meaning "to twist back." The sharp verbal reply and the laboratory vessel look unrelated, but both grow from that image of something bent or turned back on itself. The verbal sense is the older-feeling one: English took the word from Latin through Middle English "retorte," so a retort was first a turning-back, a return of a blow or a remark. The chemical vessel came into English later by a separate route, borrowed from French "retorte," where the same Latin root produced a flask with a curved, bent neck. Its shape, twisted back on itself, gave the apparatus its name, and it was used for heating substances and collecting the vapours they gave off.

Synonyms: replies, responses, comebacks

Antonyms: questions, inquiries