Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Sports A quick thrust given after parrying an opponent's lunge in fencing.
- noun A retaliatory action, maneuver, or retort.
- intransitive verb To make a return thrust.
- intransitive verb To retort quickly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In fencing, a quick, short thrust by a swordsman after parrying a lunge from his opponent: usually given without moving from the spot, before the opponent has time to recover his position or guard.
- noun Hence A quick, smart reply; a repartee.
- To make a quick, smart reply or repartee.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun fencing a
thrust given in return afterparrying an attack. - noun a quick and usually
witty response to a taunt, aretort - noun an
answer or reply, rapidly uttered, in response to a question or problem - verb fencing to attempt to hit an opponent after
parrying an attack. - verb to
respond quickly; particularly if the response ishumorous .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb answer back
- noun (fencing) a counterattack made immediately after successfully parrying the opponents lunge
- verb make a return thrust
- noun a quick reply to a question or remark (especially a witty or critical one)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Whether this serves as a decisive riposte is open to readers to judge.
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
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Yet another set of emails approaching. on October 9, 2008 at 9: 59 am | Reply Pete sara and PC 44: and your reasoned riposte is … .. what, exactly?
Tears Of A Clown « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2008
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Scum@17 - your devastating riposte is what exactly … ..?
Mind The Gap « POLICE INSPECTOR BLOG Inspector Gadget 2008
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The inevitable riposte is that, "Well, we can get people mad at George Bush by mentioning the election!"
Truer Love Hath No Name mysterg 2003
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And, Zuch, for emphasis, that’s an exceedingly apt analogy, so I’d like to think your riposte is based upon a naivete rather than a desire to mislead.
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Budget guru Stan Collender isn't impressed with Newt Gingrich's revisionist take on the government shutdowns of the mid-1990s, and his riposte is a nice capsule summary of what drove the budget battles -- and budget successes -- of the era:
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And earlier this year E.M. Halliday's much-praised "Understanding Thomas Jefferson" -- its very title a riposte to Ellis, whose earlier study "American Sphinx" emphasized Jefferson's unknowability -- tried to make sense of Jefferson's contradictory attitudes about race and sexuality by examining both his personal experience and his literary tastes.
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His riposte was the devastating “Sally Hemings, slave girl mistress of Jefferson” piece.
American Connections James Burke 2007
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Mercer's 1500 word riposte hit Golfman squarely where it hurts - in the pomposity.
Mercer, Golfman and Afghanistan: good for circ if nothing else Ed Hollett 2007
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That piece prompted a 28,000-word riposte from Mr. Berman in The New Republic months later.
chained_bear commented on the word riposte
In fencing, an attack performed immediately after a parry.
February 6, 2007
asativum commented on the word riposte
To be followed, if I'm not mistaken, by a remise or a reprise, in turn met with a redouble. And I could swear the counter-riposte, and the counter-counter-riposte, have their place as well. But I'm often wrong.
September 15, 2008
2203172 commented on the word riposte
I like riposte, but what's the word for a counterattack executed *in anticipation* of a (usually telegraphed) attack? Think in NES Punch Out, where some opponents will rear back for a haymaker, and the proper response is a quick jab in that moment of vulnerability. It's not just a boxing term, but also a good metaphor. This one has been nagging at me. Help!
April 16, 2010
mollusque commented on the word riposte
A preempt? By analogy to the term used by bridge players.
April 16, 2010
yarb commented on the word riposte
preemptive strike is the term, but it's not especially clever is it?
April 17, 2010
660774855 commented on the word riposte
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandy_Rice-Davies#.22Well.2C_he_would.2C_wouldn.27t_he.3F.22
June 28, 2010