Adjacent Words

riposte definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one); "it brought a sharp rejoinder from the teacher" [syn: rejoinder, retort, return, riposte, replication, comeback, counter]
2: (fencing) a counterattack made immediately after successfully parrying the opponents lunge v
1: make a return thrust; "his opponent riposted"
2: answer back [syn: retort, come back, repay, return, riposte, rejoin]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: French, modification of Italian risposta, literally, answer, from rispondere to respond, from Latin respond?re Date: 1707 1. a fencer's quick return thrust following a parry 2. a retaliatory verbal sally ; retort 3. a retaliatory maneuver or measure • riposte verb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a quick sharp reply or retort. 2 a quick return thrust in fencing. --v.intr. deliver a riposte. Etymology: F ri(s)poste, ri(s)poster f. It. risposta RESPONSE

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(ripostes, riposting, riposted) 1. A riposte is a quick, clever reply to something that someone has said. (WRITTEN) Laura glanced at Grace, expecting a cheeky riposte. N-COUNT 2. If you riposte, you make a quick, clever response to something someone has said. (WRITTEN) 'It's tough at the top,' he said. 'It's tougher at the bottom,' riposted the billionaire. VERB: V with quote 3. You can refer to an action as a riposte to something when it is a response to that thing. (JOURNALISM) The operation is being seen as a swift riposte to the killing of a senior army commander. N-COUNT: oft N to n

Moby Thesaurus

acknowledge, acknowledgment, advocate, allege in support, answer, answer back, answering, antiphon, aphorism, apothegm, argue for, argument, assert, back answer, back talk, backchat, bon mot, boutade, bright idea, bright thought, brilliant idea, champion, come back, come back at, comeback, conceit, contend for, counter, counterstatement, crack, defend, defense, demurrer, denial, echo, epigram, espouse, evasive reply, exception, facetiae, flash back, flash of wit, flight of wit, gibe, give acknowledgment, give answer, happy thought, maintain, make a plea, mot, nasty crack, objection, persiflage, play of wit, plea, plead for, pleading, pleasantry, quip, quips and cranks, react, reaction, ready reply, rebut, rebuttal, receipt, reecho, refutation, refute, rejoin, rejoinder, repartee, replication, reply, repost, rescript, rescription, respond, respondence, response, responsion, responsory, retort, return, return answer, return for answer, reverberate, reverberation, sally, say, say in defense, say in reply, scintillation, shoot back, short answer, smart crack, smart saying, snap back, snappy comeback, speak for, speak up for, special demurrer, special pleading, stand up for, statement of defense, stick up for, stroke of wit, support, sustain, take the bait, talk back, turn of thought, uphold, urge reasons for, wisecrack, witticism, witty reply, witty retort, yes-and-no answer