Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-TORT', v.t. [L. retortus, retorqueo; re and torqueo, to throw.]

1. To throw back; to reverberate. And they retort that heat again / To the first giver. – Shak.
2. To return an argument, accusation, censure or incivility, as, to retort the charge of vanity. He pass'd through hostile scorn; / And with retorted scorn, his back he turn'd. – Milton.
3. To bend or curve back; as, a retorted line. – Bacon.