Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun In fencing, a return thrust after a parry.
  • noun A quick and sharp refort; a repartee.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun fencing A thrust given in return after parrying a lunge.
  • noun A quick and usually witty response to a taunt.
  • noun An answer or reply, rapidly uttered, in response to a question or problem.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French riposte, taken from Italian riposta, a derivative of the verb rispondere ("to respond").

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Examples

  • We must find the appropriate ripost to what will seem like a challenge not only to the West, but to the world.

    Bernard-Henri Lévy: SOS Sakineh Bernard-Henri Lévy 2010

  • We must find the appropriate ripost to what will seem like a challenge not only to the West, but to the world.

    Bernard-Henri Lévy: SOS Sakineh Bernard-Henri Lévy 2010

  • We must find the appropriate ripost to what will seem like a challenge not only to the West, but to the world.

    Bernard-Henri Lévy: SOS Sakineh Bernard-Henri Lévy 2010

  • Frank was also known as "the velvet needle," the master of the subtle put-down and damn-with-faint-praise ripost.

    Archive 2006-05-01 Steve Hulett 2006

  • Mandras could not have known that this was because 'This is my sector' was the standard ripost of his mentor when confronted with his double-dealings, his dishonesty, and his barbarity.

    Captain Corelli's Mandolin De Bernieres, Louis 2003

  • But from the gloom came a little laugh to answer him, and his angry lunge was foiled by an enveloping movement that ended in a ripost.

    The Snare Rafael Sabatini 1912

  • The _citoyen_ Blaise, though a far less well-read man, replied without hesitation with Richemond's ripost:

    Dieux ont soif. English Anatole France 1884

  • This was designed as a triumphant ripost to the Feast of Reason, which Chaumette and his friends had celebrated in the winter.

    Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 1 of 3) Essay 1: Robespierre John Morley 1880

  • But Lancers are usually no match against other cavalry, who can parry and ripost before the lance can resume the guard.

    A Treatise on the Tactical Use of the Three Arms: Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry 1857

  • Can you guys do a ripost to this rundown of the content?

    RealClimate 2009

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