▪ I. retorted, ppl. a.1
(rɪˈtɔːtɪd)
[f. retort v.1]
† 1. Mus. Reversed. (See quot.) Obs. rare.
| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 27 Phi. What do you terme a retorted Moode? Ma. It is a Moode of imperfect time set backward, signifying that the Notes before which it is set must be sung as fast againe as they were before. |
2. Recurved; twisted or bent backwards.
| 1599 R. Linche Anc. Fiction i. iv, It is at one end somewhat crooked and retorted. 1605 Timme Quersit. iii. 166 By very long cunduites and pipes of brasse retorted. 1648 Herrick Hesper., To live merrily, Th' Arabian Dew besmears My uncontrolled brow, And my retorted haires. 1661 Tatham Lond. Triumphs in Heath Groc. Co. (1869) 478 Two Trytons playing on retorted Pipes. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 568 By drawing the integuments over the wound till the retorted edges are brought in contact. 1859 Ruskin Perspective xiv. 123 If the curve of profile A B is complex or retorted. |
† 3. ? Refuted, rejected. Obs. rare—1.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 484 He rashly aduentured the credite of Leager honour in a single Combat against me a retorted Plaintiue. |
4. Thrown or cast back; returned. Also fig.
| 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. v. 42 Vp fierce Perseus starts, And his retorted Speare at Phineus darts. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 903 With retorted scorn his back he turn'd. 1745 J. Mason Self-Knowledge i. ix. (1853) 68 Such retorted Scorn is more becoming the Character of a Stoic than a Christian. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. xii. 129 Now comes the accused, with..countercharge and retorted abuse. |
† b. Forced or driven back. Obs. rare—1.
| 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magic vi. ii. 179 Take river-pebbles and put them into a fornace, in that place where the retorted flame is most intense. |
5. Reverted; turned in a backward direction.
| 1720 Pope Iliad xvii. 120 He..threatens as he flies, With heart indignant and retorted eyes. a 1763 Shenstone Elegies x. 36 And with retorted eye forsakes the dome. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. v. 15 And now impatient, with retorted eye, Perceives his station in another sky. a 1843 Southey (Ogilvie), Sometimes, with retorted head, [they] pruned themselves as they floated. |
▪ II. retorted, ppl. a.2
(rɪˈtɔːtɪd)
[f. retort v.2]
Refined or purified in a retort.
| 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xliii, She tried to lift again..the mass of retorted gold which had come in from the quartz reef. 1897 Daily News 28 July 4/7, 680 tons of ore, which yielded 376 ounces of retorted gold. |