retorting

Retorting is the act of replying to a remark with a quick, sharp, or witty answer. In everyday language, to retort is to respond promptly, often in a caustic or wittily pointed way. A response that abruptly undercuts an argument may be described as a sharp retort. The noun form retort refers to the actual reply as a thing as well as to the act of delivering it.

In scientific and industrial contexts, retort refers to equipment and processes involving heating and distillation. A retort is a vessel, typically made of glass or metal, used to heat substances and recover volatile components or to carry out chemical transformations under controlled conditions. Retorting is the process of heating a material in a sealed or semi‑sealed container to drive off vapors, drive reactions, or sterilize content. Retort systems have been employed in early chemistry, coal tar processing, and other industrial applications.

In the food industry, retort processing is a common method of sterilizing packaged foods. The food is heated to high temperatures under pressure inside sealed cans or retort pouches, killing microorganisms and enzymes to produce shelf-stable products. Retort packaging, including metal cans and flexible pouches, allows liquids and solids to be preserved without refrigeration for extended periods.

Overall, retorting encompasses both a form of immediate verbal exchange and a family of technical processes tied to heating, distillation, and sterilization. The meaning is distinguished by context: rhetorical dialogue on one hand, and equipment or processing methods on the other.