RETORT

I. verb see: torture Date: circa 1557 transitive verb to pay or hurl back ; return , 2. to make a reply to, to say in reply, to answer (as an argument) by a counter argument, intransitive verb to answer back usually sharply, to return an argument or charge, retaliate , II. noun Date: 1600 a quick, witty, or cutting reply, see: answer III. noun Etymology: Middle French ~e, from Medieval Latin ~a, from Latin, feminine of ~us; from its shape Date: 1605 a vessel or chamber in which substances are distilled or decomposed by heat, IV. transitive verb Date: 1850 to treat (as oil shale) by heating in a ~