Rebuttal vs Retort - What's the difference?
rebuttal | retort |
The act of refuting something by making a contrary argument, or presenting contrary evidence.
A statement, designed to refute or negate specific arguments put forward by opponents.
(legal) A pleading by a defendant in reply to the evidence put forward by a plaintiff or the prosecution.
A sharp or witty reply, or one which turns an argument against its originator; a comeback.
To say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation.
*{{quote-book, year=1905, author=
, title=
, chapter=1 To make a remark which reverses an argument upon its originator; to return, as an argument, accusation, censure, or incivility.
* Milton
To bend or curve back.
* Southey
To throw back; to reverberate; to reflect.
* Shakespeare
(chemistry) A flask with a rounded base and a long neck that is bent down and tapered, used to heat a liquid for distillation.
:* 1893', A large curved ' retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre measure. — Arthur Conan Doyle, ‘The Naval Treaty’ (Norton 2005, p.670)
A container in which material is subjected to high temperatures]] as part of an industrial manufacturing process, especially during the smelting and [[forge, forging of metal.
As nouns the difference between rebuttal and retort
is that rebuttal is the act of refuting something by making a contrary argument, or presenting contrary evidence while retort is a sharp or witty reply, or one which turns an argument against its originator; a comeback.As a verb retort is
to say something sharp or witty in answer to a remark or accusation.rebuttal
English
(wikipedia rebuttal)Noun
(en noun)Synonyms
* refutation * confutation * contradictionExternal links
* *retort
English
(wikipedia retort)Etymology 1
From (etyl) retortus, from .Noun
(en noun)Verb
(en verb)citation, passage=“It is a pity,” he retorted with aggravating meekness, “that they do not use a little common sense. The case resembles that of Columbus' ?egg, and is every bit as simple. […]”}}
- to retort the charge of vanity
- And with retorted scorn his back he turned.
- a retorted line
- With retorted head, pruned themselves as they floated.
- As when his virtues, shining upon others, / Heat them and they retort that heat again / To the first giver.