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Look up riposte in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
In fencing, a riposte (French for "retort") is an offensive action with the intent of hitting one's opponent made by the fencer who has just parried an attack.[1] In military usage, a riposte is the strategic device of hitting a vulnerable point of the enemy, thereby forcing them to abandon their own attack.[2]
In everyday language, a riposte is synonymous with a retort and describes a quick and witty reply to an argument or an insult.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
barth2006was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Beaufre, André (1965), An Introduction to Strategy: With Particular Reference to Problems of Defense, Politics, Economics, and Diplomacy in the Nuclear Age, Faber & Faber, p. 39