retort

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
(rĭ-tôrt') pronunciation

v., -tort·ed, -tort·ing, -torts.

v.tr.
    1. To reply, especially to answer in a quick, caustic, or witty manner. See synonyms at answer.
    2. To present a counterargument to.
  1. To return in kind; pay back.
v.intr.
  1. To make a reply, especially a quick, caustic, or witty one.
  2. To present a counterargument.
  3. To return like for like; retaliate.
n.
  1. A quick incisive reply, especially one that turns the first speaker's words to his or her own disadvantage.
  2. The act or an instance of retorting.

[Latin retorquēre, retort-, to bend back, retort : re-, re- + torquēre, to bend, twist.]

retorter re·tort'er n.

re·tort2 (rĭ-tôrt', rē'tôrt') pronunciation
n.
A closed laboratory vessel with an outlet tube, used for distillation, sublimation, or decomposition by heat.

[French retorte, from Medieval Latin retorta, from feminine of Latin retortus, past participle of retorquēre, to bend back. See retort1.]


1. A laboratory apparatus consisting of a glass bulb with a long neck. 2. A vessel used for reaction or distillation in industrial chemical processes.



Top

verb

  1. To speak or act in response, as to a question: answer, rejoin, reply, respond, return, riposte. See ask/answer.
  2. To return like for like, especially to return an unfriendly or hostile action with a similar one: counter, hit back, reciprocate, retaliate, strike back. See attack/defend, forgiveness/vindictiveness.

noun

    A spirited, incisive reply: comeback, repartee, riposte. See ask/answer.


n

Definition: snappy answer
Antonyms: question, request

v

Definition: answer
Antonyms: question, request

Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: To answer back angrily or sharply.

pronunciation He had a clever retort for each argument offered.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

A globular, long-necked vessel used in distillation.

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'retort'

Top
Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to retort, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Retort.
A retort

In a chemistry laboratory, a retort is a glassware device used for distillation or dry distillation of substances. It consists of a spherical vessel with a long downward-pointing neck. The liquid to be distilled is placed in the vessel and heated. The neck acts as a condenser, allowing the evaporated vapors to condense and flow along the neck to a collection vessel placed underneath.[1]

In the chemical industry, a retort is an airtight vessel in which substances are heated for a chemical reaction producing gaseous products to be collected in a collection vessel or for further processing. Such industrial-scale retorts are used in shale oil extraction and the production of charcoal. A process of heating oil shale to produce shale oil, shale gas, and spent shale is commonly called retorting.

In the food industry, pressure cookers are often referred to as retorts, meaning "canning retorts".

Retort in use
Contents

History

With the invention of the alembic, a kind of retort, the alchemist Jābir ibn Hayyān developed the process of distillation into what it is today.[citation needed] Retorts were widely used by alchemists, and images of retorts appear in many drawings and sketches of their laboratories. Before the advent of modern condensers, retorts were used by many prominent chemists, such as Antoine Lavoisier and Jöns Berzelius.[2]

Role in analytical chemistry

In laboratory use, due to advances in technology, especially the invention of the Liebig condenser, retorts were largely considered to have been rendered obsolete as early as the beginning of the 20th [3] However, some laboratory techniques that involve simple distillation and do not require sophisticated apparatus may use a retort as a substitute for more complex distillation equipment.

See also

References

  1. ^ "retort." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/500078/retort>.
  2. ^ "Retort." Chemeurope.com - The Chemistry Information Portal from Laboratory to Process. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.chemeurope.com/en/encyclopedia/Retort.html>.
  3. ^ "Distillation." 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica - Free Online. Web. 17 Nov. 2011. <http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Distillation>.

External links


Top

Dansk (Danish)
1.
v. tr. - gengælde, vende om
v. intr. - svare igen
n. - gensvar, svar på tiltale

2.
n. - [kem.] destillerkolbe, retort
v. tr. - opvarme i retort

Nederlands (Dutch)
van repliek dienen, weerwoord

Français (French)
1.
v. tr. - répliquer, rétorquer
v. intr. - rétorquer, riposter
n. - riposte, réplique

2.
n. - (Chim, Ind) cornue
v. tr. - (Chim, Ind) utiliser une cornue

Deutsch (German)
1.
v. - scharf antworten
n. - Entgegnung, Erwiderung

2.
n. - Retorte
v. - destillieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - απαντώ απότομα, αποκρίνομαι, απαντώ έντονα/εύστοχα, (αντ)απαντώ
n. - οξεία/απότομη απάντηση, έξυπνη απάντηση, αντέγκληση

Italiano (Italian)
replicare, replica

Português (Portuguese)
v. - retorquir
n. - réplica (f), retaliação (f)

Русский (Russian)
возразить, парировать, возражение

Español (Spanish)
1.
v. tr. - devolver, replicar
v. intr. - devolver, replicar
n. - réplica

2.
n. - retorta
v. tr. - destilar en retortas

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - replikera, ge igen för, (kem) destillera i retort
n. - replik, (kem) retort

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 反击, 反驳, 回嘴说, 就...进行报复, 回嘴, 报复

2. 曲颈瓶, 曲颈甑, 蒸馏器

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 曲頸瓶, 曲頸甑, 蒸餾器

2.
v. tr. - 反擊, 反駁, 回嘴說, 就...進行報復
v. intr. - 反擊, 反駁, 回嘴, 報復
n. - 反擊, 反駁, 回嘴

한국어 (Korean)
1.
v. tr. - 보복하다, 반론하여 말하다, 반박하다
v. intr. - 반론하다, 말대꾸하다, 역습하다
n. - 말대꾸, 앙갚음, 역습하다

2.
n. - 증류기, 레토르트
v. tr. - ~로 건류하다, 가압솥 등으로 살균하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 言い返す
n. - 言い返し, レトルト

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يرد على الشي بمثله, يرد (الاسم) رد سريع‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮גמל, השיב בשנינה, השיב באותו נימוק, החזיר באותה מטבע‬
v. intr. - ‮השיב בשנינה‬
n. - ‮מענה חריף, תשובה שנונה‬
n. - ‮אביק, תנור להתכת כספית, לזיקוקה, מיכל זכוכית בעל צוואר ארוך לזיקוק נוזלים‬
v. tr. - ‮טיהר/זיקק (כספית) על ידי חימום‬


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Mentioned in

coke oven (chemical engineering)
amalgam retort (metallurgy)